#It’s the Star Trek universe—‘I was mind controlled by an alien force’ is well known | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

notdeadjack · 6 years

Text

annual rec list: 2017 edition

18 Fandoms represented:

Voltron: 85 fics Haikyuu!!: 8 fics Avatar: The Last Airbender: 1 fic Yuri!!! on Ice: 2 fics Naruto: 2 fics Star Trek: 8 fics Boku no Hero Academia: 9 fics Marvel: 8 fics Big Hero 6: 1 fic Teen Wolf: 100 fics Star Wars: 5 fics Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: 5 fics Harry Potter: 3 fics Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog: 2 fics Dream Daddy: a Dad Dating Simulator: 3 fics Lucifer: 1 fic Stranger Things: 1 fic Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency: 3 fics

247 fics, under the cut!

(to those of you the “read more” doesn’t work for: I am so sorry.)

If you find any dead links, incorrect/missing information or if you’re the author of a fic and want me to remove the link from this list, please contact me and I’ll take care of it :D

Voltron

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9557762 Lonely (But Not When You Hold Me) by SouthernBird 4k, Lance/Shiro, h/c,

It’s an unsettling thing, something sickening that doesn’t sit well at all, almost as if he should have noticed the lack of presence earlier. Wary as he is to admit it, there’s a tiny voice of longing that dances in his chest through the silence of the corridor he’s standing in, as if the lack of the warmth of Lance’s presence has made him cold.

(A bit of a fix-it story after Episode 8/10 of VLD: Season Two!)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9550874 A Good Day to Slack Off by UnknownAuthorPerson 3k, gen, fluff, team bonding, truth or dare,

It definitely wasn't how Shiro planned his day, but finding his teammates playing Truth or Dare was probably better than going through another day of rigorous training.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9137215 burn and break by epiproctan 2k, Keith-centric, smut, tentacles,

Keith follows some local alien tips on how to work off his frustration.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8655217 Just Like Sunlight by literal_trashbaby 3k, Keith/Lance, fluff, pining,

when Lance found Keith milling near the fringes of the crowd and made some lame joke, he was expecting the usual snide remark, or at least that somewhat endearing incomprehension that bordered on naïveté. instead, Keith laughed. Keith laughed, and Lance’s world turned on its end.

OR: Keith laughs at a corny joke and Lance Was Not Prepare(TM)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9124741 Too Busy Being Yours by Resamille 10k, Keith/Lance, pining, alcohol,

Keith is in love, Lance is a mess, and maybe things might actually work out for once.

(alternatively: Keith pines, the stars are pretty, music boxes, Pidge can't hold their alcohol, lasers, and Blue is going to disown Lance after this.)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9035474 Slowly, Surely by needchocolatenow 3k, Lance/Shiro, AU, pining,

Shiro is tasked with an assignment to deliver important cargo to Altea. Lance is his second.

Or, the fic in which Shiro and Lance take a road trip through space in an unfortunately named shuttle.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8408143 A Kiss is a Kiss (But it's never like this) by GibbousLunation 25k, Keith/Lance, 5+1, slow burn, h/c, injuries,

“How does this keep happening to us, every time.” Lance grumbled.

“You’d think they’d stop sending us on away missions,” he agreed. Honestly, between the poisonous plants of their last planet, and Lance’s tendency to always end up on the business end of every blaster or pointy ended stick, Allura was just being inefficient at this point.

Or, five times Keith kissed Lance but the situation was less than ideal, and one time Lance finally kissed him back.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8152486 Heatwaves on Autopilot by WhatTheBodyGraspsNot 56k, Keith/Lance, sex pollen, dubious consent, slow burn,

Keith and Lance unknowingly inhale an alien aphrodisiac during a simple resource retrieval mission. But unlike the common aphrodisiac, this particular one reactivates under certain unknown conditions, later leaving them craving in situations that don't necessarily present them with many options. Keith tries to work through it, concerned with the sudden lack of control of his body, until he realizes the same thing is happening to Lance. So...great. How are they supposed to deal with this, keep it a secret, AND tend to the thousands of other responsibilities that come with defending the universe? (Together, of course.)

As someone who LOVES the sex pollen trope, let me tell you this fic is perfection. it has continuous sex pollen! and feelings! :D :D :D

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8628142 Bedroom Hymns by Bosstoaster Smut (ChaoticReactions) 26k, Shiro/Everyone, smut, aphrodisiacs, biting, fucking machine, D/s elements, body modifications,

His arm wasn't the only thing the Galra changed. They also gave him certain... needs.

Shiro learns to make it work for him.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7491141 Lost and Found by battleshidge (Amiria_Raven) 75k, Shiro/Pidge, slow burn, pining,

The dashed line from their current location to the box was labeled 00:02:47:29:12. Two hours, forty-seven minutes, twenty-nine seconds, twelve milliseconds.

In just under three hours, they would be headed away from the last known location of Sam and Matt Holt.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8101003 BloodCam by hollo 116k, Keith/Lance, AU, blood play, self harm, cutting, cam show, asexual character, paraphilia, minor stalking by secondary character,

It was Pidge who drew his attention to it, groaning at the pop up ad that had somehow broke through their ad blocker. “What sort of depraved bullshit is that,” She grumbled as she closed the window, but not before the site’s name was ingrained on Keith’s brain -DarkSinCams - along with a tempting teaser shot of a graceful neck pinched harshly in a prong collar. Exactly the type of bullshit that piques my interests, Keith thought.

As an asexual with a thing for blood, let me tell you this fic is one that I never thought I’d ever get to read, a part of me that i never, even in my wildest fantasies, dared to think would ever get representation. Even if it deals with such a dark, dangerous kink that is arguably neither safe nor sane, it NEVER does so in a sleazy or creepy way. And, since Keith is asexual, it is sexual in a way where it’s not sexual at all? idk, i can’t really explain it. But, it is hella good and i love it.

Do take note of the warnings tho, if graphic self harm and cutting is a trigger for you, give this one a pass, yeah?

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9102247 strength of the small by nowweareunstoppable 12k, gen, h/c, graphic injury, BAMF!Pidge,

A false distress signal lands the paladins in a tough situation. It falls to Pidge to earn their freedom, and it doesn't come without a dangerous cost.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9067054 String Theory by kingkoganes (noero) 4k, Keith/Lance, accidental soul bond, frottage, first time,

The prospect of piloting the Red Lion had excited Lance at first, even if the mere thought of abandoning the Blue Lion made him uneasy. In hindsight, that should have been his first clue that something was bound to go wrong. Omnipresent robot lions were usually right about these things.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9081937 Stir by wynnebat 4k, Pidge/Shiro/Keith, threesome, first time,

Shiro, Keith, and Pidge find each other after the battle with Zarkon. It's finding the others that's the problem. And boredom.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9197414 How Far Will You Go For Your Leader by WashiPuppy 24k, Lance/Shiro, Lance/OMC, dub-con, consensual voyeurism, marking,

"You would throw yourself at my mercy his place?" The Druid asked with a curious tilt to her head, "And what would I do with you?"

"You could do anything you wanted with me, Babe. Just tell me what you want." Lance heard himself say low, sultry, and entirely without his rational brain intervening. He could practically hear the minds of the Galra in the room grinding to a halt.

Great, now when the rest of the team rescued Shiro, he'd have to tell them "Lance died after flirting with the enemy. There was nothing I could do. I think we all knew this was inevitable."

"You should be throwing yourself upon the Commander's mercy, not mine," The Druid stood and grinned down at Lance.

Ah well, what was the french saying? 'When the wine is drawn, you have to drink it' or something. He leaned slightly to give him direct line of sight to the Commander.

"You could do anything you wanted with me, Babe. Just tell me what you want." Lance repeated in the same sultry tone.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8495119 popping tags by ladyfnick 8k, Keith/Lance/Shiro, clothes sharing,

Sweaters are basically communal items, right? Lance has some unusual habits when it comes to other peoples things. In that he keeps accidentally stealing them. Whoops? Keith doesn't have that excuse.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9157693 Objects in Motion (When Unbalanced) by Mytay 37k, Keith/Lance, slow burn, pining,

Lance and Keith are constantly being mistaken for a couple. Lance is highly offended. Keith is quietly outraged.

Pidge decides if she can’t have peace, then she can write an epic scientific dissertation on the romantic failings of two exceptionally dense paladins.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7836556 Fake It Til You Make It by nikkiRA 26k, Keith/Lance, fake dating, pining, sex pollen,

“No, it’s not that –” Keith tries to backtrack. “We just – we –” he isn’t sure what he’s going to say, he just knows he has to say something before he and Lance are forced to have sex with some weird alien species, while also keeping the weird alien king happy enough to create an alliance with them.

But not for the first time and not for the last, Lance pulls through.

Of course, this time pulling through almost gives Keith a heart attack, because Lance slips his fingers through Keith’s so that they’re holding hands.

“What Keith here means to say,” Lance says, and although his voice is steady, he is gripping Keith’s fingers so tightly it’s painful. “Is that we can’t mate with your people, although we, um, appreciate the offer, because, well. We already are. M-mated, I mean. With, you know. Each other.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9301076 in stasis by ilgaksu 26k, Keith/Lance, injury, physical disability, artificial intelligence,

The story starts like this: with a story where you think you know the end, until it turns out you don’t, until it turns out you didn’t have a clue.

In which for three months of Lance McClain's life, he lives as an AI, waiting for his prosthetics to come online. It goes about as well as expected.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9355586 monachopsis by DJBunn3 7k, Keith/Lance, pining,

It’s not that family-like situations make Keith uncomfortable, per se. He enjoys spending time with his fellow paladins and the Alteans, obviously. And in a way, they’re almost like a real family. Shiro and Allura are like the parents, and Hunk and Pidge are the younger siblings, mischievous and playful. That makes him and Lance the twins, polar opposites and incredibly similar at the same time, and always arguing over something. And no, he hasn’t thought much about this at all. So obviously he’s got no problem with families. They’re fine, even great. Just because he never had one before, doesn’t mean he’s made uncomfortable by them.

But now? Now that he’s witnessing Lance’s charisma firsthand once again, watching his easy interactions with complete strangers that Keith can only hope to achieve with Shiro and the others, he feels strangled and alone. His heart thumps unevenly in his chest. He’s opened the can of worms in his head that he swore he’d never touch again, and now they’re just crawling around his brain.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9379301 I Got You by dumpsterdiva 7k, Keith/Lance, pining, h/c,

What do you do when you’re an overemotional kind-of-smol teen who likes engaging physical and emotional fisticuffs BUT NOW your crush is feeling insecure because of you??? Compliment him until he sUBMITS. THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM MY LOVE.

Lance is a self-sacrificing idiot and Keith is #done and frankly so am I

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9519404 All My Reasons Why by tylerproposey 11k, Keith/Lance, slow burn, pining,

But what if Keith's favorite color isn't red...what if it's blue.

Keith who has never really had a favorite color. Then one day at the Garrison he catches a glimpse of Lance's eyes and it stops him in his tracks for that moment.

"That's it?" He realizes, "That's my favorite color,"

It starts off as an infatuation, nothing more than admiration for the entrancing blue eyed boy. It turns into a crush - something he’s never had - and suddenly every shade of blue reminds him of Lance. It ends with love, something deep and turbulent, really he never stood a chance.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9462965 from the mouths of liars by csoru 7k, Keith/Lance, Galra!Keith, xeno, rough sex, under negotiated kink,

“Dude,” says Lance — foolishly, because it means he has to breathe and now if they get sucked out into the vacuum of space, he’ll suffocate — “Are you mutating? Is this going to be the kind of deal where you get all messed up and turn into a horrible monster?”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8474725 He Who Fights Monsters by magisterpavus 64k, Keith/Lance, AU, dragons, injury, h/c, slow burn, kidnapping,

In a world where monstrous dragons terrorize humanity daily, the Garrison trains valiant Knights to slay the evil beasts and defend Earth. But when Knight cadet Lance Espinosa is kidnapped by a strange red dragon who kills its own kind, certain truths are revealed...and so are the true monsters.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9645266 Practice Makes Perfect by ryuuou 2k, Hunk/Lance, mild dub-con, blow jobs,

Lance goes to Hunk for some help on studying for extra credit.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9713744 i just want you to know who i am by Kyoshu_Koi 10k, Keith/Lance, AU, soul mates,

"It's you!" Keith screamed, "It's always been you."

Or the fic where I combine every possible soulmate au together into one big mess

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9722156 We're Onto Something by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) 3k, Hunk/Lance, cuddling,

Over their years of friendship, Lance and Hunk slept pressed together many times. All that changed were the places.

Until things did change.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9964355 Pollination by Saucery 4k, Hunk/Lance, sex pollen,

In which a species of alien flower plays matchmaker.

Or, the obligatory sex pollen story.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9623936 Make Me Your Home by Reader115 38k, Keith/Lance, pining, galra!keith,

“Oh my god, Keeeith,” Lance wheezed. “Keith you’re the best drunk space cadet I’ve ever seen.”

“Space cadet,” Keith mumbled. He repeated the words again although his eyes had zeroed in on Lance’s hands and Lance offered no resistance when Keith picked one of them up and pulled it possessively towards his lap. He began to gently trace over Lance’s fingers, sending shivers up Lance’s arm and down his spine. “You have looong fingers,” Keith murmured after a few moments.

Keith’s face perked up then, as if he’d just had a brilliant idea, and Lance could almost not wait to hear what new obscure thought had entered Keith’s pretty head. He was prepared to laugh, and instead found himself shivering again as Keith leaned far into his personal bubble, lips practically touching Lance’s ear when he spoke next.

“I bet you could reach all kinds of things, Lance.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9782123 Closer by Carvingknife 17k, Hunk/Keith/Lance,

Keith understood that he was expected to bond with the other paladins, but he never expected Hunk and Lance to edge their way in as far as they did. Enemies, he could handle, but emotions. . . not so much. He entertained the option of ignoring the way his heart pounded all together, but one inebriated slip-up later, and the walls began to crumble. Suddenly, Lance is in trouble and Keith has to put confronting his feelings on hold in order to work with Hunk to get him back.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10020137 speechless by scriveyner (trismegistus) 1k, Lance/Shiro, pining, blow jobs,

Keith was the same as ever in training, in sparring - his violet eyes narrowed in concern when he was able to throw Shiro and pin him to the mat; he had one palm on Shiro's heaving chest and weirdly that touch sent electric tremors down Shiro's spine. "You all right?" he asked, and Shiro's chest heaved.

No, he wasn't.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9630806 There's a love I've been keeping inside; by kirargent 10k, Hunk/Keith/Lance,

Keith thinks, utterly certain of himself: Lance likes him, too. Lance likes Hunk, too.

And that’s just fucking annoying. Leave it to Lance to make Keith’s life even more complicated.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9768674 starlight by scriveyner (trismegistus) 873 words, Lance/Shiro, pwp,

It turned out that there were a lot of things about Lance Shiro didn't expect.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9569120 Not The Human Definition Of Normal by BrOwNiEfOx 2k, gen, 4+1, non-consensual body modification,

Four times the paladins noticed things Shiro gained during his time as a Galran prisoner and one time he got to rest and it didn't matter.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9853094 Like a Bolt from the Blue by Mytay 5k, Keith/Lance,

Keith has a near-death experience, but he’s actually pretty okay afterwards — he considers it all part of the Paladin calling. Lance, on the other hand, is wrecked by it, and so he trains his butt off to ensure that Keith will never die on his watch.

Or, as I originally posted on my Tumblr: Keith unintentionally spies on Lance in the training room ...

… where the Blue Paladin is kicking ass. And Keith’s kind of mesmerized by it. Then he’s more than mesmerized — he’s freaking out because he’s actually kinda sorta into this brutally efficient soldier version of Lance.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9817643 Junkyard Gods by warschach 28k, Keith/Lance, AU, greek mythology - modern setting,

What happened to old, forgotten gods?

They moved to L.A. apparently

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9904898 Hold me close by percyinpanties 4k, Lance/Shiro, BDSM,

Shiro takes Lance apart in the best way possible, only to put him back together.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9913883 Heavy, Gentle Hand by aurumdalseni (kyo_chan) 2k, Hunk/Shiro,

Hunk trusts Shiro with his life, but he can't really trust Shiro with his own life. He makes it a point to step in to take care of his leader.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10025414 Come Back (as pure as gold) by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) 3k, gen, time travel, bittersweet,

When Shiro steps out of his lion after the final battle with Zarkon, something is off.

Seems like he missed something. Ten years of it.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9959891 Count On Me by st4rlabsforever (omaken) 5k, Hunk/Keith,

It’s not until a couple of weeks after the Weblum incident that Hunk realizes how much time he and Keith have been spending together lately.

Or, rather, it’s not really spending time together per se, just that Keith seems to always wind up wherever Hunk is in the evenings, whether he’s cooking up a late night snack in the kitchen or lounging in the common room with a bowl of Altean cracklepops and a movie.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9820193 All About that Space by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) 6k, Hunk/Shiro, AU, pining, secret admirer,

After an accident that cost him his arm and his position on the first manned Mars mission, Shiro transfers to work at the Jet Propulsion Lab. Shortly after, Hunk gains a secret admirer.

These facts are probably coincidental.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9727223 Rushing To Say Nothing by LynnLarsh 36k, Keith/Lance, mild dub-con, alien brothels, angst, pining,

“What the hell was that?” Keith says, sounding strangely pissed. Probably jealous; whatever happened, Lance is a lucky son of a bitch and Keith knows it.

Coran clears his throat before answering, and when Lance finally pulls his eyes away from the crowd, that purplish blush from earlier has increased to a noticeable shade of violet across his cheeks. “It seems our boy Lance here has just been propositioned by the local brothel.”

A.k.a. That time Lance went into an alien brothel to prove a point and came out perhaps a little too enlightened.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10026671 a truth in the blood by angstinspace 7k, Keith/Lance, missing scene, galra!keith,

“I’m Galra, Lance.”

It's the first time he's said those words out loud––and to Lance of all people. He should feel horrified at himself but somehow, he doesn't. In fact, an eerie calmness has settled over him. Everything comes sharply into focus as he stands there, still holding Lance's wrist, breathing in and out, waiting for a response.

A post "Blade of Marmora" fix-it fic. Mostly broganes & klance bonding.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10088447 Hot Like Magenta by Methoxyethane 14k, Keith/Lance, galra!keith, heat, marathon sex, xenophilia,

“I’m just saying it might be a little early to dismiss the possibility that you might be… you know.” He gestured to Keith’s alien junk as a whole. “In heat, or something?”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8365993 electromagnetic by seabear 25k, Keith/Lance, pining, fake dating,

Lance spends a lot of time wondering about his place in the universe. And his place with Keith. Oh, also there’s a heist and some fake dating.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7797733 Entangled by mackerelmademedoit 101k, Keith/Lance, telepathic bond, pining,

When Keith found himself mentally linked to Lance of all people, he never thought that it would end in anything but irritation and misery on both sides. He certainly never imagined that it would be a useful asset in team Voltron's fight against the Galra Empire. Now if he can just keep his feelings in check, they might actually have a chance at defeating Zarkon.

Needless to say, when he'd wished for a 'bonding moment' with Lance, this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind.

This is a fresh take on the mind meld/telepathic bond/mental link trope, and i enjoy v much

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8549284 Closer to Your World by CastleSL 29k, Lance/Shiro, canon AU, role swap, pining,

Students will be carefully selected and tested for the opportunity to fly out to Kerberos for scientific research. Only one student may be selected. Application and Testing will commence during the third trimester, June 21XX.

There was more on the page, statistics and requirements and more details, but it was legit. The flyer was printed on standard Garrison announcement paper, the document signed by the Dean and board of directors. The chance to go to Kerberos. Hunk took a moment to think, then clapped his hand on Lance’s back, smiling.

“Well, I’m rooting for ya, buddy.” He said, and Lance beamed like that was all he needed in the world.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10371303 theorycrafting by glhf 3k, Lance/Pidge, pre-canon, unrequited crush,

Katie overthinks it. At least Lance is oblivious, and not interested. Pre-canon, set during the semester at Galaxy Garrison.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9816713 Kiss the Rain by robotjellyfish 7k, Lance/Shiro,

After another mission where Lance gets tricked by the enemy and captured Lance is feeling pretty down his usual insecurities getting the better of him. Shiro is determined to show him he's not as useless as he thinks he is.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10088642 Small Fierce Things by playswithworms 5k, gen, injury, PTSD,

Pidge is badly injured. Shiro does his best to angst over it, but is foiled.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9924476 Catch & Release by anonymous_scapegoat 2k, gen,

Some Galra grunt makes the mistake of putting Pidge and Lance in the same cell. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10057184 Stuck on You by carpemermaid 25k, Keith/Lance, forced proximity, pining,

Go to Thalgor, Coran had said. It will be easy, he’d said. Well, it wasn’t easy being literally stuck to his rival thanks to getting exposed to some stupid alien plant in the middle of a humid jungle, after hiking all day with said rival. Lance and Keith just have to make it through two weeks of being around each other constantly, with their arms glued together, before they can go their separate ways. But first, they’ll need to make it through sharing a room and learning how to live on top of each other until they’re free.

oh hey look, it’s my favourite trope: forced proximity~

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10091792 Pendulum by noero 5k, Keith/Lance, rough sex,

The funny thing about falling for someone is you don't even realize you're falling until you hit the ground.

It just happens that when Lance falls, he hits hard.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9608048 It Takes a Village by Zemmiphobia 18k, Thace/Ulaz, canon-AU, fluff, kid fic, grooming,

One decision by an injured soldier changes not only the fate of the universe, but the fate of her young son.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10053452 Got Your Back - Platonic VLD Week Day #5 by hufflepirate 4k, gen, injury, h/c, cuddling,

The mission started going badly long before Shiro realized Lance was injured and trying to hide it. Now, stranded alone on a strange planet and completing their mission on foot while they wait for the lions to self-repair, Shiro also has to figure out how badly Lance is hurt, why his uniform isn't healing him, and what to do about it.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10553376 Antiparticles by yourfaveisproblematic 3k, Pidge/Shiro,

an·ti·par·ti·cle Noun. A subatomic particle having the same mass as a given particle but opposite electric or magnetic properties. Every kind of subatomic particle has a corresponding antiparticle, e.g., the positron has the same mass as the electron but an equal and opposite charge.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10431945 After Me Comes the Flood by Qpenguin98 25k, Keith/Lance, trans character, h/c,

The interior of this ship is cold and boring. The Galran soldiers that try to bond with you are cold and boring. Zarkon is cold and boring.

You are sick of being cold and bored.

A story following the Red Lion.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10540689 Touchdown by InsominiacArrest 4k, Keith/Lance, bondage, spanking,

Lance starts to get hot and bothered by the fact Keith sometimes gives out congratulatory ass slaps, and it becomes an issue when they start dating and it's hard for Lance to ask for what he wants.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10540284 Hot in Here by SugarSweetRascal 5k, Keith/Lance, dub-con, rough sex,

Lance and Keith have been pining after each other, so much so that their lions are thrown into full blown estrus. Will the paladins survive going into heat, or find a way to quench their thirst for one another?

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8104807 Infection by 5557 73k, Keith/Lance, horror, injury, drowning, slow burn, fluff,

While exploring an alien planet, Lance is nearly killed by a mysterious monster. Now he's convinced that he is infected with an alien sickness. Why doesn't anyone believe him? It must be Keith's fault.

This is a horror-comedy (but like, also a romance?), and I drew pictures.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10411245 The Doctor Is In by InterdictedKai, minus___zero 10k, Lance/Shiro, AU, trans character, medical kink,

Lance had always hated going to the doctors for anything to do with his reproductive biology. But transitioning and other medical issues meant that Lance had spent more than his fair share of hours around doctors. It wasn’t until he was nineteen and having serious pain issues that his local GP finally referred him to the Gynaecology department at the hospital in the next town over. Fortunately for Lance, it wasn't that far of a drive. Unfortunately for Lance, his doctor turned out to be young and hot. Fortunately for Lance, that doctor thinks Lance is temptingly hot as well.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9559535 Running Flat by SKayLanphear 11k, Keith/Lance, pining, crushes,

Lance, like all the other paladins, is finally getting used to the “mind meld” they all have to indulge in when controlling their lions. Until someone’s uncontrollable crush comes in and knocks them all back in surprise. It’s a crush that circles persistently through their thoughts and only gets stronger as time goes on, until they begin to realize this might be a bit more serious than the term “crush” implies.

Meanwhile, the unfortunate paladin behind it all is trying desperately to bury the feelings away, yet failing at every turn.

oh gosh this is so cute

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10450977 Reach out for you (break these walls) by Utsukushin (UserFromPluto) 9k, Keith/Lance, h/c, past abuse, touch starved, fluff,

Keith is trying to make himself smaller, to bury his head deeper in his knees, and Lance’s heart freezes in his chest. Anger dissipating like an exploded firework, Lance lets his hand fall limply to his side, mind blurring with static. When he tries to speak, nothing comes out but a choked noise, so he tries again.

“Keith,” he breathes. “Keith I’m not going to hurt you.”

(Keith has an abusive past, but with time and care Lance helps him become accustomed to positive touch.)

This fic was inspired by my fan art (!!!?!) and i’m still screaming about it ngl it’s amazing go read iiiit

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10465326 Katie by gemiinous 5k, Pidge-centric, coming out, trans character,

"I'm a girl."

The reactions from the team should have made her feel better. They should have eased the months of dysphoria and anxiety, should have made her smile and relax into her own skin once more.

Instead, the casual acceptance--and even incredulity, were they even supposed to believe that she was a boy to begin with?--just left her off balance and whirling.

-OR-

Pidge slowly comes to terms with the idea that gender might not be as cut-and-dry as she thought it was.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10906425 Crushing Hard by donutwolf 15k, Hunk/Lance, wrestling, size kink, body worship,

Lance has a crush. But also, Lance wants to get crushed.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10842192 the potential of you and me by Katranga 15k, Keith/Lance, AU, first time,

“And then other times,” Lance said. “I’m just, like, dying to know what a mouth would feel like around my dick.” Keith choked on air and said, with absolutely no go-ahead from his brain, “I have a mouth.” Half-laughing, Lance said, “Is that an offer?” He pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. His throat was dry. “Is that an acceptance?” -- The summer after freshman year of college, Lance drags Keith back to their hometown to hang out. But the two of them rarely spend time together without Hunk and Pidge around, because things had a way of getting out of hand real quick. This summer is... no different.

make sure to read the reddit post this fic was inspired by. it’s precious~

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10713636 I Like It When You Touch Me by emogod669 2k, Lance/Shiro, smut,

“I know, but tell me anyway.” Lance pouts and damn, Shiro’s weak just like that.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10379589 Songbird by Faequeen40 105k, Keith/Lance, injury, non-consensual body modification, h/c,

After an ambush on a strange planet, Lance gets captured in Keith's place. Will the others be able to rescue him before Lotor breaks his new prize?

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10776273 wipe these stars from my eyes by scriveyner (trismegistus) 10k, Lance/Shiro,

Lance flung his arms out and yelled, "I did not sleep with Shiro!"

There was a long moment of silence as the last of Lance's words hung in the early morning air. "So ... you were just naked in his tent when I walked in, then," Pidge said. "Yes!"

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10767930 Public Displays of Affection by JessenoSabaku 19k, Hunk/Lance/Pidge, voyeurism,

Lance and Hunk have been hooking up since the Garrison days. They usually manage to keep their business private, but when Lance gets in the mood, there's no stopping him. Thanks to that, Pidge caught them getting it on in the showers, and ever since then she's gotten more and more distant. Now Lance has to find a way to close the rift between them.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10892712 Lusty Dust by Brewrites 5k, Pidge/Hunk, sex pollen, mutual masturbation,

Pidge and Hunk are on an alien soulmate planet and have been blasted with sex pollen. Pidge for the second time on the strange planet.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10888098 In the Still of the Night by zombiegardener 17k, Lance/Shiro, slow burn, PTSD,

Sleepless nights can wear you down. But sometimes they can also be the start of something beautiful.

Or how to build a relationship you didn't even know you wanted in sleepless nights and stolen moments.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10883565 small parts of something big by TEARSoverBEERS 4k, Lance/Shiro,

“Yeah, no one's gonna be like 'oh, Shiro is in love with me, we gotta date now', just in theory, which one of us do you find the most dateable.” Lance agrees. --------------

Aka. the Paladins are stuck in a fight over who is more dateable and somehow Shiro get himself wrapped up in that (and then in Lance)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10927908 Jaded by Creepofish 8k, Lance/Shiro, injury,

Shiro is the leader of Voltron. He is the strength and the calm in the face of the thundering storm of the Galra. Lance is someone Shiro doesn't quite understand. Shiro is someone Lance wants to understand with all of his heart.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10935372 You Always Say the Stupidest Shit by mischiefmanager 13k, Keith/Lance, first time, fuck buddies, bickering,

"I know what your problem is," Lance interrupts, pointing a finger at him and smirking as though he's just personally discovered the deepest secret of the universe. God only knows why Keith stops talking then, but in hindsight, he wishes he'd have just gotten louder.

"You need to get laid," Lance announces.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10698537 the anchor by Sarolonde 1k, Lance/Shiro, h/c,

Lance can feel the anger burning within, sizzling and searing through his veins like explosive fuses networking through his body. The spark that lit the match had been Pidge’s agonised cries and screams, the destruction that shattered through her armour and broke her body in horrible unknown ways. She should never have been there, if they had have just listened to him…

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10312844 Something Just Like This by Sarolonde 40k, Lance/Shiro, AU,

[19:09] Lance glad my photos were accidentally sent 2 a nice guy like u <3 thank u for not being a creep [19:22] Shiro Uh, you’re welcome. I guess? I don’t know what else I would have even done with the situation. [22:11] Lance u innocent sweet angel unicorn ^_^ g’night kind sir *tips hat* [22:13] Shiro Goodnight, Interesting Stranger.

The wonderful, unexpected consequences of Lance sending partially-nude pictures of himself to a stranger.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10522167 For the World to See by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) 10k, Lance/Shiro, AU,

In which Lance is a dork for space, Shiro brought Lance's album with him to the ISS, and everyone else in their lives wishes they'd shut up about it for ten damn minutes.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10986474 in love again by Incertitude 10k, Lance/Shiro, power bottom!Lance,

when Lance's half baked prank causes an expected stir Lance is thoroughly pleased but the unexpected outcome is having Shiro inside his room unravelling Lance's buried feelings

the fic where Shiro says Keith's name during sex and provokes Lance into taking charge of the situation

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9630881 Black to Blue by PuppetMaster55 153k, Lance/Shiro, role swap, universe swap,

Lance, the undisputed (no longer, since he finally got the team to stop questioning his position like a month ago) leader of Voltron finds himself in the absolute strangest scenario: being the Blue Paladin.

Lance, still finding his place on team Voltron, wakes up to the weirdest world: one where he's the Black Paladin.

OR, I take a universe where Lance was always the Black Paladin and have him swap bodies with canon Lance, throwing both sets of teams for a trip.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11094996 Cradle me in your arms by WHUMPBBY 8k, Lance/Shiro, sex pollen,

“Shiro, I have an idea.” Hearing the vicious excitement in Lance’s voice, Shiro stopped his slow climb and sighed. “No, Lance, we will not set the tree on fire.” “How did you know?!” He was never quite sure how Lance could pitch his voice into the ‘angry teenager’ register even at the age of twenty. “Because I thought it through ten minutes ago and it’s too humid to light fire.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11986935 assess the situation by redlight 3k, Lance/Shiro, masochism, stuck in a wall,

Lance is stuck, Shiro tries to help, and hopefully this is all just some weird, perverted dream, 'cause Lance really can't handle this right now.

Voltron NSFW Week, day 5 prompt "tricks and traps."

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11974986 A Helping...Hand? by magisterpavus 13k, Lance/Tentacles, consentacles, h/c,

“It’s kinda cute,” Lance mused as the plant oozed blue slime all over his hand and wrapped a tiny green tendril around his thumb. “Aww, look!”

“Sure, cute, in a Cthulhu’s spawn sort of way,” Pidge muttered. “Put that thing back where it came from or so help me, Lance.”

“No way,” Lance said, holding the plant to his chest protectively. “I think it likes me.”

(DAY 8: FREE DAY - TENTACLES! )

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12345033 Keeping the Nightmares Away by MizuLeKitten 20k, Lance/Shiro, cuddling, h/c, PTSD,

Lance had had the occasional nightmare as a child, who hadn’t honestly, so having them while in space fighting against an alien tyrant hell bent on controlling the whole universe? At least some things were universal. As the nightmares persist, Lance takes to wandering the castle at night, and it appears he’s not the only one. After a chance run in with Shiro the two come to a simple agreement: If they can't sleep alone, why not try sleeping together?

If only things stayed that simple.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12781515 Power and Control by Bosstoaster Smut (ChaoticReactions) 7k, Hunk/Shiro, dom/sub, collars, praise kink,

Shiro can't let go of the stress of the day. Hunk might have a solution.

Haikyuu!!

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9280169 Routine by someonestolemyshoes 16k, Hinata/Kageyama, AU, porn, cam show,

Kageyama Tobio has a routine.

Up, shower, dress, breakfast, classes, practice, work, dinner, laptop, show time.

It’s simple, and it works for him. Kageyama has never been all that much interested in socialising—not to say he doesn’t like talking to people, but…honest, for the most part, he’d rather not be doing that—and there is comfort in a system that never changes. No matter what party he is invited to, what club meal or class drink or work social they try to wrangle him into, Kageyama does not cave, because the rest of his routine is waiting for him at home.

And if he’s late, he will miss it.

Hinata is a well-known cam boy, and Kageyama is his biggest fan.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9375023 Don't Mind, Don't Mind by runswithwolves (ConstantComment) 1k, Hinata/Kageyama, exhibitionism, public hand jobs, mild dub-con,

Shouyou has always been aware that Kageyama gets riled up after a win. Very, very aware.

While everyone else is practically knocked out from a match or, you know, four -- the team’s snores and silence palpable on the bus back home -- Shouyou’s heart races and he imagines he could run to Tokyo and back, and maybe after have go at a couple more rounds of spiking drills.

And Kageyama... well.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7972708 Some Other Name by Gemmiel 14k, Hinata/Kageyama, college roommates, pining, misunderstandings, jealousy,

Hinata and Kageyama are college roommates now, and Kageyama kind of wishes Hinata would call him by his given name every now and then. After all, they've been best friends for three years now, and aren't best friends supposed to call each other by their given names occasionally?

Not that he CARES, or anything. Except he does, sort of...

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7214293 I am what I am by Gilrael 40k, Ennoshita/Tanaka, AU, roomates, slow burn, demi character,

“Uh, hi. I'm Ennoshita Chikara,” he introduced himself with a shy little smile that made Ryū's heart skip a beat. “Tanaka Ryūnosuke,” he replied mechanically, stepping aside so that Ennoshita-san could enter the flat. “C-come i-in.” --- Chikara moves out, because he has enough of his shitty flatmate. Ryū happens to need a new flatmate.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6198364 campfire in your chest by deanpendragon 74k, Tsukishima/Yamaguchi, slow burn, pining, jealousy, UST,

Kei realizes in their second year of high school that he's probably been in love with Yamaguchi since they were ten. However hopeless he might be in handling that situation, Kei prays he's at least not as hopeless as Hinata and Kageyama. But he just might be.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9147199 The Video by Navybluewings 53k, Hinata/Kageyama, college, masturbation, dirty talk, slow burn, praise kink,

Kageyama Tobio knows that he and his roommate, Hinata Shouyou are low on cash. And he's aware that part of that is might be his fault. So when Hinata comes to their college dorm with the promise of a paycheck, Kageyama almost overlooks the video camera sitting in his spiker's hands. All he has to do is record whatever Hinata plans to do, right? How hard could that be?

Funny how one video could change everything.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11573157 Dragged into Your Pace by nebulia 8k, Hinata/Kageyama, dirty talk, praise kink,

[You’re incredible, Kageyama, Hinata had whispered that afternoon, straddling his waist, elbows on either side of Tobio’s head, and Tobio had gone cold and hot and cold all over, jerking like his strings had been cut. It had been so much. And giving Hinata that much leeway is scary, but Hinata’s also kind of gentle, sometimes. Like he knows how to handle the parts of Tobio that are fragile.]

The working title of this fic was “praise kink tobio,” which...pretty much covers it.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11240220 a game we both could win by kagome_angel 7k, Hinata/Kageyama, voyeurism, mutual masturbation,

If he were a decent guy, he’d pretend this wasn’t happening, but apparently he's not really a decent guy.

It's an accident, initially. But it spirals into something else, and it's incredibly easy to get lost in it.

(It's just a game, right?)

(Of course not.)

Avatar: The Last Airbender

http://archiveofourown.org/works/33751 The One Where the Fire Nation Clearly Loses by miarr 4k, Sokka/Zuko, frottage,

Okay, so there was a little scenario with the guards.

Yuri!!! on Ice

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8836096 From Almaty, With Love by BoxWineConfessions 71k, Otabek/Yuri, slow burn, pining,

It’s quiet here. Even if the car alarm on the neighbor’s goddamn BMW has been going off for the past twenty minutes. Quiet, even though the alarm’s got the neighbor’s dog howling like crazy, and the neighbor works second shift and isn’t there to comfort the dumb dog.

It’s quiet…They haven’t spoken to each other since that morning, when Yuri went off to go see his tutor, and Otabek went off to do whatever the hell it was he did in the mornings before he hit the rink.

“You’re used to the noise?”

“Yeah, but…I think I like the quiet too.”

Or: Yuri spends the summer with Otabek in Almaty.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9135670 all the world's a stage by braveten 112k, Victor/Yuuri, AU, anxiety,

Everyone has a guilty pleasure.

For Yuuri, it just happens to be romance movies starring famous heartthrob Victor Nikiforov.

(And, honestly, on the spectrum of guilty pleasures, he figures that his is on the far, far more innocent side.)

Naruto

http://archiveofourown.org/series/266068 blood of the covenant series by 100demons 15k, Sakura/Sai, developing relationship,

Sakura and Sai come home after the war.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5339486 reverse by blackkat 386k, Kurama/Kakashi, time travel, fix-it, slow burn,

To make a tragedy, you break something beautiful and frame the pieces. To make a victory, you break something mighty and rebuild it piece by piece. To make a life, you glue the pieces together and hope for the best. Kurama's still getting the hang of this ‘human’ thing, but given that he’s 30 years back in time with catastrophes to prevent and a blond brat to save, he’ll have to figure things out on the fly. Luckily, living with Naruto's been good for his ability to improvise, if nothing else.

an absolutely amazing read! masterfully plotted and perfectly balanced between action, character growth and fluff. i barely noticed the length tbh. contains more rare pair ships than the main one, all which i now ship. also, contains character deaths in the previous time line that is referenced often as the MC deals with the grief, but all in all it’s a lot ligther and fluffier than one expects.

Star Trek

TOS & AOS

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1179148 We Two Boys Together Clinging by rabidchild67 21k, Kirk/Spock, mission fic, h/c, kid fic, de-aging,

One day, 9-yr old Jim Kirk wakes up in the middle of nowhere with a big headache and no memory of how he got there. He’s not sure where he is, but it’s definitely not Earth, and there’s not another living soul around. Well, except for this other kid - an actual Vulcan! - who’s annoying at first, but turns out to be pretty useful to have around. Guess it’s time for the adventure of a lifetime he’s always wanted.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1731203 AT THE SAME STARS by spicyshimmy 136k, Kirk/Spock, canon-AU, slow burn,

First Officer Spock of the USS Enterprise is part of the away team that discovers the survivors of Tarsus IV. Captain Pike assigns him to the curious case of James Tiberius Kirk, who steals one of Spock's sweaters.

-There were no sufficient Vulcan poetics to describe the emptiness of the colony as it was found on the morning of stardate 2249.43. The fully-completed residential sector was neither ugly nor beautiful but simply remote; a hollow landscape of metal alloys and sensible architecture, with determined vegetation growing alongside the support beams. They did not flower.-

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1013237 Only Fools by museaway 63k, Kirk/Spock, canon-AU, h/c,

Spock has just graduated with highest honors from the Vulcan Science Academy when Nero destroys his planet. Lucky to escape with his life, he is bound for Earth on a rescue ship where he meets a strange fellow traveler: an elder version of himself. Disturbed by his counterpart's experiences in his own timeline, Spock vows never to follow the desires of his human half. But when a man named Jim Kirk comes into Spock's life, he's faced with a struggle to find the balance between Vulcan and human.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1011854 Measure of Happiness by writeonclara 38k, Kirk/Spock, canon-AU, roommates, slow build,

When Spock chose Starfleet over the Vulcan Science Academy, he had not anticipated cohabiting with the most illogical, irrational, emotional human he ever met.

On the flip side, Jim never asked for a Vulcan chaperone, especially one as snotty as Spock, son of Sarek.

A Starfleet Academy AU in which Spock adapts to human life, Jim learns very, very quickly never to play a prank on a Vulcan, and there are far too many people after Jim Kirk's life.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/883469 THE SUM OF BOTH OF US by spicyshimmy 207k, Kirk/Spock, canon-AU, kid-fic, slow build,

Jim Kirk is nine when a massacre on Tarsus IV leaves him without a family and without a home. Spock is twelve when a strange boy in the desert saves his sehlat. Families aren't born; they're made.

-The look in mother’s eyes at his correction remained a mystery long after the colors of the night sky and the complex patterns of distant nebulae had become translatable by means of distinct and relatively straightforward equations. -

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3896413 The prominence of a simple word by Exploding_Space 5k, /Kirk/Spock, pet names,

Captain Kirk keeps referring to his First Officer as “sweetheart”. He does it when they are in mortal peril, when he is bored, when he wants to be annoying. Neither expects the term of endearment to actually become dear to them.

~ response to the „Hey, sweetheart“ challenge. reposted here from the k/s archive

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9488996 Sha Ka Ree by ThereBeWhalesHere 180k, Kirk/Spock, canon-AU, slow burn, time travel, pining, bed sharing,

The year is 2258. Jim Kirk is a Lieutenant on the U.S.S. Farragut, Spock the science officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise. When the ships come together for a priority landing party, these two strangers find themselves fighting against the odds for a chance at life in an alien world, and the only way they'll make it through is by relying on each other.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10607232 Undiscovered Terrain by battybatzgirl 32k, Kirk/Spock, canon-AU, first contact, fluff,

After an attack on his ship from a Romulan warbird, prince Spock crash lands on a nearby primitive planet, directly into the backyard of one Jim Kirk.

Boku no Hero Academia

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6589822 Hitsuzen by Methoxyethane 10k, Midoriya/Todoroki, pre-slash,

He would have ended up falling for Izuku at some point no matter what, he was certain. No matter what path life took him down he'd have still ended up here, not because of anything as elaborate as destiny or fate but instead due to the simple fact of inevitability. Because Izuku was Izuku and Shouto liked just about everything about him, couldn't help but admire him and would always want to be around him, just for who he was.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10020833 the sunshine people by dellsey 12k, Kirishima/Bakugou, AU,

The shitty red hair, the bright orange tank top with the word ‘Zumba’ written across it in huge bold letters, the goddamn pants and the green sneakers. Talk about a fucking combo. “That’s not a lady,” Bakugou states, squinting at the dude. “That’s Kirishima. He’s the instructor,” Jirou simply replies.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10551482 downhill by eggstasy 5k, Kirishima/Bakugou,

Bakugou sleeping in the common areas like it’s no big deal seems to give everyone else permission to be just as bizarre, and little by little Kirishima starts learning things about his classmates he never knew.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11095629 Pure Morning by bigstupidjellyfish 10k, Kirishima/Bakugou, sex pollen, post-series,

a classic sex pollen fic with a dash of sad excuse of worldbuilding

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11227647 nothing has changed me quite like you by akhikosanada 10k, Midoriya/Todoroki, fluff, pining,

"Touching someone for the first time, Shouto found out, did not draw electricity or any other romanticized chemical reaction described in books and movies. It did, however, make his chest tighten harder than it ever had before, and as he drew the shape of lightning over Midoriya’s skin, his lips parted on an almost inaudible sigh. Midoriya’s breath caught in his throat, and Shouto wanted to catch it in his own mouth."

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11483757 Shudo by signifying_nothing 4k, Kirishima/Bakugou,

It was so easy to take someone who acts like Bakugou and write them off as just another overly-aggressive future villain. It was so easy, and that was why Kirishima hadn't done it. He'd refused. Bakugou was loud, and aggressive, and strong, but Kirishima knew bravado when he saw it, he knew what a person looked like when there was nothing on their mind but their pride and their self-esteem.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11286987 i want you to show me by crunchrapsupreme 3k, Kirishima/Bakugou, smut,

“I already told you, I’m not gonna break, you don’t have to go slow.”

“What if I want to, though?” Kirishima murmurs quietly. “What if I wanna take my time with you?”

Bakugou shivers.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11725113 get tough, straight up by qactus 11k, Kirishima/Bakugou,

Then again, Kirishima never had this Bakugou Katsuki thing under control—probably everyone's known that, too.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12886323 Katsuki VS Friendship by downtownfishies 13k, Kirishima/Bakugou,

Katsuki knew he was an asshole. He just wasn't used to being so bothered by it.

Marvel

all the franchise

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7396714 Angel of the Morning by iFlail, Jenetica 49k, Peter/Wade, canon-AU, slow burn, deadpool as a warning,

"Peter sucks in a breath and hides his face with a sip of cocoa. Aunt May repeating his own idea back to him cements it in his mind. Deadpool needs a friend more than anyone else in the world right now, and Peter’s job is to protect people. Even if that means protecting them from themselves.

He’s going to be the best fucking friend Deadpool ever had, even if it kills him. Which it very well might."

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6260548 Damage by dontcareajot 42k, Peter/Wade, h/c, slow burn,

Peter Parker finds himself in a sticky situation and who should show up to rescue him but the infamous Deadpool? Now Peter feels indebted to the mercenary... And maybe weirdly charmed by him.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6148600 5 Times Peter was Having Issues (And 1 Time He Wasn't) by VyxenSkye 16k, Peter/Wade, 5+1,

.... And How Wade Was Involved in Each One

A random '5 times' fic. Peter getting into trouble and Wade being there to get him out of it.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4720682 Project Phoenix by TheAvalonian 73k, Bucky/Steve, slow burn, pining, kid fic (kinda),

“They told me you were enemies,” the girl said blankly. “They told me I had been forged in hatred.”

Neither Bucky nor Steve said anything for a long time. The girl stayed with her hand pressed to the glass, waiting. This time, the question was there, even if she hadn't asked it outright.

Bucky cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away from Steve's and pushing down on the handle. “Well, they lied,” he said gruffly, and strode out the door without looking back. (Post-TWS, Steve and Bucky's lives are just starting to resemble some kind of normal when a young Hydra agent shows up in the lobby of the Avengers' Tower, claiming to be their daughter.)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3135464 Peter Parker's Home for the Wayward Villain by BeanieBaby 90k, Peter/Wade, canon-AU, fluff, protective bad guys,

A really long redemption story.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3903769 Bad Lines by DustToDust 11k, Clint/Pietro,

It's Tony's fault. Someway, somehow, Clint just knows that the man is behind this new level of annoyance.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4102126 Music to my Ears by astheoceanfalls 13k, Clint/Pietro, deaf character, prank war,

“This music is awful. You have old man taste.” Pietro looked serious, but his eyes were lit up with mischief.

Clint did splutter this time. “This is it. I’m going to educate you on Real Music.”

Or, the one where Clint flirts with Pietro by forcing classic rock on him, and Pietro has no choice but to retaliate.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9819023 What Pals Do by basilique 4k, Steve/Bucky, pre-serum,

Bucky's lips are soft, and his breath is hot as he pants against Steve's neck.

“It’s just what pals do…other fellas do it too, they gotta. I bet you there's no fella in the world who hasn't...who hasn't with his best friend. Just…just kiss me, Steve. Don’t worry.”

Big Hero 6

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3498686 Dirty (when done right) by thehomodabrothers 94k, Hiro/Tadashi, AU, not related, stripper, masturbation, pinning,

You know the kind of guy who looks like he'd suck your dick, the money out of your wallet and the soul right out of your body?

Yeah. That half-naked waiter over there? He looks like that kind of guy.

(There's a stripper Hiro's having a little trouble staying away from. If his personality is anywhere near as nice as his ass, then Hiro's pretty fucked - and not in the fun way, either.)

starts out pretty damn dirty, but rapidly turns sweet af

Teen Wolf

http://archiveofourown.org/works/629953 Monsters by nightanddaze 10k, Derek/Stiles, dubious consent, possession,

Two (three) souls walking in the woods, looking for and finding monsters.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4683653 Stepping Off the Razor’s Edge by MissAnnThropic 25k, Stiles/Derek, angst, happy ending,

After the events of season 3b, the group in Beacon Hills graduate high school and move on with their lives… everyone except Stiles and Derek. Beset by their demons, they decide they need to get away for a while to clear their heads. Cue the road trip.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/507930 taking the bus to chinatown by hito 13k, Stiles/Derek,

Stiles' home economics teacher forces him to knit mittens. Nobody wants Stiles' mittens, but then Stiles offers them to Derek, and Stiles is pretty sure Derek does these things purely to drive him crazy. What else could it be?

hito writes the most precious Derek

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1647245 Knight of the Night by calrissian18 -1k, Stiles/Jackson, long distance snarkery,

Jackson grins, chest still heaving. He points at Stiles. “Princess.” Then to himself. “Knight.”

Written for mating_games Challenge 1: Happily Ever After. AND WON FIRST PLACE!

http://archiveofourown.org/series/103751 Shatterproof series by pyes 90k, Stiles/Derek, h/c, car accidents, pining, injury, recovery,

The first time that Derek kisses Stiles, they're in the Jeep—which is sideways—while they're trapped in an overpass collapse.

It's the second time when things really get scary.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3187547 Come Hell or High Water by blacktofade 14k, Stiles/Derek, AU, a/b/o, pining, saliva,

As an alpha, Derek goes into heat, which means he has to deal with endless amounts of saliva at any given point.

an original take on the, uh, biology of the trope.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1991601 The Lawn Ranger by Snowjob 47k, Stiles/Derek, high school AU, jock!Stiles, pining,

In which Derek is an adolescent werewolf with a penchant for chocolate bunnies, and instead of the dream summer of lazing around the house playing video games and nibbling on his hoarded supply of easter candy his mother makes him get a job.

In which Stiles is a showoff jock with a broken arm and an embarrassing crush who can no longer push the lawn mower around the yard.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3879556 UST (An Unfortunate Series of Tropes) by ureshiiichigo 54k, Stiles/Derek, pining, UST, bed sharing, accidental marriage, telepathic bond, donuts,

Stiles and Derek sitting in a tree, M-A-R-R-I-E-D.

Wait, what?

Or: Stiles thought he and Derek were finally getting to be bros, and then Deaton had to go and ruin everything with his stupid spell.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3575022 Plus One by migratoryslashfan 101k, Stiles/Derek/Scott, Stiles/Peter, polyamory, accidental pregnancy, dub-con, fuck-or-die, underwater sex, graphic injury, traumatic birth, fluff,

Stiles takes a pregnancy test as a joke. It turns up positive.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4248903 Our Skin, Our Bones, Our Silent Poem by staylorpotato 7k, Peter/Stiles, deaf character, fluff, angst, nogitsune fix-it, ASL,

Peter is a Deaf werewolf. Stiles is a CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult). They’re a kind of unlikely pair. But sometimes things you wouldn’t think of as a good combination, end up turning out to be the perfect combination, you know?

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1932642 Reluctant Allies With Benefits by veterization 93k, Peter/Stiles,

Peter suggests he and Stiles start having no strings attached sex. It's that simple. No, really, it totally is. Stiles will make sure of it.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3643614 Prison Break by cywscross 21k, Peter/Stiles, Eichen house, mentions of torture,

The last time Peter was locked up and abandoned, he went crazy and killed a bunch of people. Stiles can’t understand why anyone would consider it a good idea to repeat history. So he decides to do something about it.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/2542955 The Trouble with Threesomes and Supernatural Soul Mates by Akira_of_the_Twilight 87k, Peter/Stiles/Chris, canon-AU, polyamory, soulmates, slow burn,

Peter looked at Stiles from the corner of his blue eyes and smirked. Stiles swore he saw a flash of red Peter’s eyes, but it might of have been his brain’s lack of oxygen making him hallucinate. “I’m looking for my soul mate. Christopher Argent. I believe he volunteered to be taken in for questioning.”

An iron fist clenched Stiles' heart. This man was Argent’s—Christopher’s soul mate?

Stiles stared at the Peter’s wrist, examining every detail of Peter's soul mark. Stiles couldn’t find anything different between his and the blond’s.

Stiles lifted his hand and ghosted his fingers along Peter’s forearm.

It was lightning all over again, and Stiles yanked his hand back, only to have it caught in an unbreakable grip.

Frosty blue eyes burrowed into Stiles', and he couldn’t stop himself from gulping. The smirk on Peter’s lips grew as the corner of his mouth quirked higher, and he drew Stiles’ hand close to his face.

Peter’s nostrils flared slightly as he stared at Stiles’ soul mark. He pulled Stiles forward, pressing soft lips to Stiles wrist.

“Now what would your name be?” Peter purred.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6490537 According to plan by FeelingsDusk 16k, minor Peter/Stiles, time travel, BAMF!Stiles,

The plan was very simple: go back in time, kill Kate, kill Gerard, never ever make contact with his parents, try to find a place within the Hale pack or not, but either way, live the rest of his life displaced and without the people he loves.

Of course, as it always is with him these days, nothing goes according to plan.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8370943 All My Stars Aligned by Green 21k, Peter/Stiles/Chris, Peter/Chris, AU, a/b/o, alpha/alpha, pining,

Stiles needs to find an alpha ASAP. Actually, the doctors say he really needs two. Damn biology.

Chris and Peter are two alphas in hopeless, doomed love with each other.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6454288 Don’t Forget to Breathe by cywscross 11k, gen, canon-AU, kidnapping, codependency, injury, trauma,

The fire destroys every last reason Peter has to continue living. Stiles gives him a new one.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/2521997 This Could Be So Dirty That it Just Ain't Right by taylorpotato 10k, Peter/Stiles, a/b/o, omega/omega,

Ever since Stiles presented as an Omega, he hasn't been feeling the same urges as his peers. When he's around an Alpha that's not Scott (who is pretty much his brother at this point), his first reaction is to shrink away, not try to press closer. Until he meets Peter Hale. Who acts like the most annoying, entitled kind of Alpha on the planet. Except he's not one. He's an Omega. Of course, Stiles would turn out to be every type of gay possible.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4013770 Lucky Penny (Tastes Like Copper on Your Tongue) by pibroch 11k, Peter/Stiles, AU, dark stiles, injury, groping,

When Peter woke up, he spent a good fifteen or twenty seconds earnestly wishing that whatever had hit him had the courtesy to kill him outright. Because this? This was bullshit.

AKA the time I decided to give Peter all the nice things, but made him get hit by a car first. Like you do.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7233526 Written in Red by gryvon 5k, Peter/Stiles, canon-AU, soulmates, humour,

Peter had given up hope of ever finding his soulmate until the red string on his finger leads him to a four-year-old. He's going to Hell. Or jail. Or both.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/820526 just like the ocean under the moon by rain_of_stars 23k, Peter/Stiles, love potion, dub-con, fluff,

When they find the alpha pack, Stiles is calling first dibs. Because trying to kill them all is one thing, but making Peter follow him around like a creepy undead puppy is unforgivable.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6273163 Save Me by DiscontentedWinter 39k, Peter/Stiles, canon-AU, aftermath of rape, torture, attempted suicide,

Peter is the Alpha. He's nobody's savior. Not his pack's. Not his town's. And not that kid's. But sometimes salvation goes both ways.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1601951 Under The Weight Of Living by SatanInACroptop 16k, Peter/Stiles, survivours guilt,

Stiles is having trouble reconciling with the aftermath of the nogitsune. Namely the notion that if Allison were here, Stiles might well not be. Namely the heart stopping fear of what could happen to those still breathing if the next time he wakes up, someone else is opening his eyes for him. Fortunately, there is at least one soul in Beacon Hills with whom he can relate to. Sometimes a little bit of help can be found in the most unlikely of places, including the domicile of Peter Hale, and sometimes, a little bit of sanctuary is all it takes.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/715949 no moral compass, pointing due north by AuntieClimactic 4k, Peter/Stiles,

“I certainly didn’t suggest anything untoward,” Peter says, honestly perplexed but hiding it by widening his eyes innocently. “I can’t help it if you overreacted to my natural sexual magnetism.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1158050 betrayed by bones by veterization 25k, Peter/Stiles, love potion/sex pollen,

Stiles stumbles into wolfsbane that forces him to seek out contact from a particular person to stay alive. That person just happens to be Peter. Stiles hates his life sometimes.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/761191 Feet on the Dash by veterization 9k, Peter/Stiles, road trip,

It's strange, because to the random unknowing passerby they're just two friends, maybe even family members, taking a road trip in the middle of a sweaty, endless June, but Peter's an ex-serial killer werewolf and Stiles is a little puny human who's eating all the chips like Peter won't rip his throat out if he eats the whole bag without sharing. The road trip part, however, is true.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/754957 Trust Fall by Stoney 144k, Derek/Stiles, body swap, h/c, slow burn,

Stiles is fairly certain that a case could be made for every bad thing in his life coming back to Peter Hale. This time it's pissing off a powerful witch, who retaliated by swapping Stiles and Derek a la Freaky Friday, because sure. That makes sense. Um, there are GPAs on the line, not to mention the whole thing where his dad wants to shoot Derek on sight. Except who he sees as Derek is actually Stiles, and Stiles did not sign up for filicide.

Great. Wait...does this mean he's the Alpha until they figure this out? Holy. Shit. ****

Derek had stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a few minutes trying to control the panic as he saw himself as Stiles. As the loud mouthed human friend of the pack. He was going to kill Peter. He was going to kill the witch, then he was going to kill Peter. Maybe even resurrect him again just to kill him all over.

They were going to have to play this cool. They would have to stay calm and focused. Which is of course why the universe threw him into this situation with someone who physically couldn't be calm and focused.

Of course.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1884876 But Then What... by Stoney 24k, Derek/Stiles, AU, High school,

Senior year is almost over, and all Stiles needs to do is keep his head down to survive. A teacher calls in a favor, leaving him stuck tutoring Derek Hale, one of the most popular jocks in school and a member of a group of douchecanoes who have bullied Stiles for years. He's someone Stiles totally hates. Totally. Like, doesn't like him even a little bit. DEFINITELY isn't attracted to him.

Except that is a total lie. Fuck his life, seriously.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/2532104 That's How They Deal With Boys Like Me by taylorpotato 12k, Peter/Stiles, genderfluid character, trans character, misgendering,

Navigating puberty is hard enough on it's own. But on most mornings, Stiles also has to deal with feeling like he woke up in the wrong body. Peter Hale, of all fucking people, is the only one that seems to understand.

http://archiveofourown.org/series/684416 The Sheep Chronicles by Guede 122k, Derek/Peter/Stiles, Sheriff/Chris Argent, AU, incest, polyamory, sheep,

After Derek’s nearly seduced by a hunter into betraying his family, his mother thinks it’s a good idea to send him out into the world and learn how not to fall for traps like that. Peter comes along, because Peter likes exploring, and that’s why they decide to explore a haunted mountain.

Stiles lives on that mountain. With his sheep. They’re very tasty-looking, and well, Derek and Peter are werewolves.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/581108 Men of a Certain Age by peroxidepest17 15k, Sheriff/Chris Argent,

The Sheriff and Chris Argent do their best impression of Scott and Stiles except without the flailing (because they're too old to flail anymore).

http://archiveofourown.org/works/971281 Concrete by RarePairFairy 8k, Sheriff/Chris Argent,

Chris Argent does NOT have a man crush.

Except maybe he does, a bit.

There are hostile creatures appearing in inconvenient places around Beacon Hills, and three families - the Argents, the McCalls and the Stilinskis - are resembling a taskforce.

Chris is beginning to realize that he's tired of watching loved ones get hurt. Sheriff Stilinski couldn't care less, because he's been trained how to use a gun and the bad guy's getting away, so on your feet, old man.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11414910 Poacher’s Delight by Guede 7k, Sheriff/Chris Argent, AU, BDSM,

What’s clear is that Chris has no right to be hunting where he is, and John’s caught him red-handed. But then it gets a little confusing.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4678247 Ecosystem Engineering and the Werewolf by Guede 19k,Derek/Peter/Stiles, canon-AU, BDSM, dub-con,

Stiles and his dad work for the U.S. Forest Service, which sends them to Beacon Hills. It’d be nice if Stiles could stop running into the Hales. He’s got bodies to get rid of.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4272609 I'll Walk with Your Wolf by iCheat 33k, Peter/Stiles, body swap,

When Stiles wakes up in Peter's body, he's understandably freaked out. As Stiles starts connecting with the man's wolf, he can't help but reconsider his opinions of Peter. Needless to say, it's a rather confusing time for all involved.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6147194 Beautician and the Beast by MaroonDragon 18k, Peter/Stiles, AU,

Peter likes to look good. He sells himself through his looks. So why shouldn't he make sure that he's as handsome as possible when he's shifted? Why would anyone want to have a dry and coarse fur when it's not needed? So he goes to a dog beauty parlour on a regular basis. When Stiles opens up a new shop in town, Peter finds way more than a new place to have his nails trimmed and his hair done. The only problem is, how can he seduce the guy when he's on four paws and believed to be just a very large dog?

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8124766 All In A Spin by ShippersList 12k, Peter/Stiles, AU, permanent injury, aphasia, trauma,

Stiles can't really talk anymore but, with Peter, he realizes he doesn't have to. Even if their spoken communication consists of one swear word and stuttered syllables, they understand each other. And that's what counts.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/969413 Come Out With Your Hands Up High by dedougal 5k, Sheriff/Chris Argent, magic made them do it,

Kidnapping is all too current an occurrence for Sheriff Stilinski nowadays. But spell casting is one bit of the supernatural he hadn't quite got his mind around just yet. Especially when it's directed at him and his partner in kidnapping, Chris Argent.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/983275 Baby It's Warm Inside by RarePairFairy 4k, Sheriff/Chris Argent, smut,

Chris is a combination of lethal weaponry, bad dad jokes and domesticity. John is a combination of hot, Old Spice and Jack Daniels. On date night, that somehow translates into lethal hotness, old dad jokes and drinking on the couch. Neither man has extensive experience in the sexual side of man love, but both have extensive experience in improvising. And that will do.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4316862 To Catch a Fallen Star by cywscross 7k, Peter/Stiles, AU,

Stiles falls. It is not as great a tragedy as he thought it would be.

actual star!Stiles

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1110615 Sympathy for the Devil by KouriArashi 72k, Peter/Stiles, canon-AU, child abuse,

Stiles gets a job as a hospital orderly and finds himself becoming strangely attached to the catatonic man on the long-term care ward, and finds out that there's a lot more to Peter Hale than there seems...

http://archiveofourown.org/works/633727 Amends by AuntieClimactic 18k, Peter/Stiles, future fic,

Stiles blinks, “You’ve spent the last twenty years in therapy?”

“I had some emotional issues,” Peter admits.

“That’s… hilarious.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5298617 Proposing To Strangers by moonstalker24 50k, Peter/Stiles, AU, bikers, fluff,

At the end of a strained relationship, crime novelist Stiles chooses to hide from the world inside a bar with far too many motorcycles outside it for comfort. Here he'll meet the man of his dreams, eat food and propose marriage, all within the first five minutes.

Peter doesn't know who this kid is, but he's cute and looks like he could use a break. So he feeds him. He's not expecting a marriage proposal, but with what comes after, he doesn't really mind.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/597049 Bonds of Power by Miya_Morana 18k, Stiles/Derek, power swap, alpha!stiles, human!derek,

When Stiles suddenly wakes up as an Alpha werewolf and finds out that Derek has become human, he reluctantly accepts Derek’s pack as his while they attempt to find out what exactly happened and how to reverse it. But as they all try to adjust to the situation, the Alpha Pack is breathing down their neck, and they’re going to need all the help they can get to face that threat.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/826201 Miner For Truth and Delusion by blacktofade 20k, Stiles/Derek, love potion,

Stiles stumbles across what he thinks is a cult in the preserve and ends up cursed so that everyone wants to get with him. It makes it harder for him to get things back to normal, but luckily there's one person who's unaffected.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/877251 Divided We Stand by KouriArashi 156k, Stiles/Derek, AU, misunderstandings, mystery,

Derek is being pressured by his family to pick a mate, and somehow stumbles into a choice that they didn't expect and aren't sure they approve of....

http://archiveofourown.org/works/850923 Hard Pressed by pandacowhipster 4k, Stiles/Derek, masturbation, voyeurism, 5+1,

Derek maintains this wouldn't be an issue if Stiles would just learn to knock.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1381153 Roommate Wanted: No Supernatural Creatures Allowed by veterization 38k, Peter/Stiles, roomates, future fic,

Stiles is in college, living in a pleasant apartment, and absolutely does not need a roommate. He ends up getting one anyway, and as luck would have it, his roommate turns out to be Peter.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8214182 Adult Wolf by KouriArashi 82k, Peter/Sheriff Stilinski, canon-AU,

As if Sheriff Stilinski doesn't have enough to deal with, now he's been attacked by some enormous dog in the forest, and that's normal compared to what happens next...

Season one re-telling with Sheriff Stilinski being bitten instead of Scott.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1518449 Binomial Coefficients by DevilDoll 20k, Stiles/Derek, AU, high school,

In which brainy freshman Stiles Stilinski wants star quarterback Derek Hale to join the math team, AKA math nerds in love.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1204642 Kindred Spirits by Stoney 104k, Stiles/Derek, AU, slow build, pining, homophobia,

Anne of Green Gables/Teen Wolf AU. [ You do not have to know AoGG to follow this fic, it would only enhance the reading experience. :D ] Essentially the world of Teen Wolf set in the late 1890s, with themes and some minor character names/places specifically borrowed from Anne's world (and no disrespect meant to LM Montgomery, because I love Anne Shirley to bits and pieces.)

Stiles is the adopted son of the Sheriff, brought to Beacon Hills to hopefully stay for good. A family, a best friend, school, Jackson as Josie Pye (because who else could he be?) and the mystery of a dark haired, green-eyed boy which leads Stiles to discovering a secret within himself.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5299154 here comes trouble by grimm 105k, Stiles/Derek, AU, a/b/o, past rape, past abuse/slavery, trauma,

All Derek wants is one day where he can sleep without worry of being woken by gunfire, without the threat of death hanging over his head. He wants a full stomach and no pain clinging to his bones, no ache in his feet from months of running. He wants a shower, a safe place to put his head. He wants his family, the healing comfort of pack. He'll never have any of that again.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1124860 What You Can't See by darkmagess 54k, Stiles/Derek, kidnapping, PTSD, torture,

A new threat comes to Beacon Hills, putting all its supernatural inhabitants in danger. A true alpha and banshee are rare and valuable quarry, but Stiles and Derek are the easiest targets.

do read the short fics linked in the first A/N

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1022356 Stand Fast in Your Enchantments by DevilDoll, Rahciach 76k, Stiles/Derek, AU, kidnapping, captivity, h/c, torture,

"Stiles knew damn well what a pissed-off wolf sounded like, and every hair on the back of his neck was telling him that somewhere in this room was a very pissed-off werewolf." An AU in which Derek is feral, Stiles is magical, and they eat a lot of fast food.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1491730 Handsome Hobo by relenafanel, Swing Set in December 8k, Stiles/Derek, AU, misunderstandings, humour,

Derek should probably stop rummaging through garbage if he doesn't want people to assume he's homeless.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/479349 I'm Hunting on the Night (We're Playing for the Fights) by PaddyWack 6k, Stiles/Derek, AU, wolf!Sties, Human!Derek,

Stiles is the unfortunate wolf that gets into some trouble during his moon cycle. Derek is the hapless hunter that finds him.

Or, the one where Stiles steps in a bear trap and has to be rescued.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/896999 And If I Die Before I Wake by consciousness_streaming 60k, Stiles/Derek, true mates,

When Stiles wakes up on his eighteenth birthday from a chaste dream about Derek Hale he doesn't think it's a big deal. But when he wakes up the next few days to the same dream, he knows something is going on. And he's going to get to the bottom of it. Once is an incident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern. More than three is just torture.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7946302 These Woods Sigh by blacktofade 80k, Stiles/Derek, friends with benefits, pining, accidental pregnancy,

Derek and Stiles never plan to start a family together, it just happens. Or, the one where Derek accidentally wishes for a baby.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11640030 Falling In, Not Through by Julibean19 49k, Peter/Stiles, h/c, body horror, wing kink, alcohol abuse,

“You need to help me,” Stiles says eventually. He’s still in too much pain to move off the floor, but he’s picked up a stray feather, twirling it between two fingers with a look of pure terror on his face. Peter nods immediately, eager and willing to be involved in whatever this is.

Peter’s eyes flick between the feather spinning between Stiles’ fingers and the harsh angle of the bend of his wings above his shoulders. He doesn’t look like any picture of an angel Peter has ever seen. There should be an elegant swooping curve there, neat little rows of white or gold or silver, pointed tips flung far out from Stiles’ body and a halo above his head. If Stiles is an angel, the myths are all wrong.

In which Stiles finds that he has wings and Peter finds that a pack doesn't always need to be made up of wolves.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/2027388 Revenge Fake Dating Is Totally A Thing by seraphina_snape 32k, Stiles/Derek, fake dating, slow build,

Sheriff Stilinski walks in on Stiles and Derek in a compromising position and assumes they're in a relationship even though they were just sneaking around to keep the sheriff out of their supernatural shenanigans. Obviously it's all Derek's fault for being so damn suspicious - at least that's Stiles opinion and the reason why he gives Derek a taste of his own medicine when he invites him over for family dinner at his dad's request.

Only then Derek turns the tables on Stiles and before Stiles knows it, they're fake dating for reasons of revenge, one-upmanship and the preservation of Stiles' relationship with his dad.

No way this can go wrong, right?

http://archiveofourown.org/works/924398 Imperfect Isn't Easy (But It's Us) by RayShippouUchiha 11k, Stiles/Derek+Lydia, voyeurism, possesiveness,

Derek is so tired of everything being his fault, so tired of always losing. He's also tired of not admitting that he wants to own Stiles in ways he can barely describe.

Derek is far from perfect but maybe that's okay. Maybe in the right company perfect isn't necessary.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/487228 There Ain't No Heaven by blacktofade 4k, Stiles/Derek, masturbation, voyeurism, forced proximity,

Derek and Stiles are forced to spend the night in a car and Stiles pops an awkward boner.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11066634 I Don't Blame You for Being You (but you can't blame me for hating it) by LadySlytherin 39k, Stiles/Derek, injury,

Derek hits Stiles with his Camaro - 'Dammit, Stiles, it was an accident!'...'Why don't I believe you?' and hilarity ensues.

this fic contains mpreg, but it’s only a minor plot point and doesn’t actually take place during the actual plot.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7513226 your soul fits where mine feels empty by wishingonalightningbolt 19k, Stiles/Derek, smut,

He pulls open the door without knocking and gets half a step inside the loft before he notices. Derek—lying on his bed—face down—naked.

-0-

Stiles gets an eyeful. Things go downhill from there.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/612585 Tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us by queerly_it_is 12k, Stiles/Derek, bdsm, sub!derek,

Derek doesn’t get why he likes it so much.

It’s just not -- he hadn’t expected to need this. Not from Stiles. Not from anyone, ever. He doesn’t do this.

Except he does, now. Because it’s for Stiles, and Derek -- fuck, he likes it too.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8179690 I've Been Everywhere With You by Leslie_Knope 61k, Stiles/Derek, theraphy, slow build,

“Dude, you should totally come with me.”

“What? Like on the road trip?"

“No, come with me. To Austin. Get out of Beacon Hills.”

Derek paused. “What?” he asked again.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/717364 Brilliant & Ridiculous by maderr 10k, Stiles/Derek, fake dating,

All Derek wanted was for the woman to leave him alone and ring up his groceries. How that led to her thinking Stiles is his boyfriend is something he blames on Stiles and his inability to stay out of trouble for five minutes.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/783841 John Hughes Did Not Direct My Life by nascentgalaxies 48k, Stiles/Derek, AU, high school, slow build,

Stiles and Derek are childhood friends who drifted apart. When Stiles joins the lacrosse team against his will, the universe (with a little help from Laura and Lydia) chooses to push them back together.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/676633 The Sweetest of Words (Have the Bitterest Taste) by Omni 9k, Stiles/Derek, fake dating,

“Ah, yeah, Desiree, I told you I was meeting someone. Well, that someone is Derek. My boyfriend. We’re totally in love.” His heart was racing and Derek was holding him so tight it was difficult to turn enough to face the young woman. What he did see of her had his breath catching on fishhooks in his throat. She was normally a relatively pretty girl, with cute round cheeks and large dark eyes, but in that moment she looked…terrifying. Her cheeks seemed gaunt, her eyes glowing like they were little windows peeking into a deep pit of raging flame.

(Or: Five or so years after the show. Stiles is in college, and finds himself getting stalked by a succubus. Derek's determined that the best way to thwart her is to prove that he and Stiles are madly in love. It's not really as much of an act as either seems to think.)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1183688 i want to say all those things that would be better unsaid by aeneapsych 24k, Stiles/Derek, AU, phone sex, praise kink, teacher/student,

Derek is a lonely professor who decides to call a phone sex line.

Stiles is a poor grad student who needs to make a living somehow.

"One night stands were never this good. Hell, his previous relationships were never this good. Derek was so screwed, but right now he didn't care."

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1060026 Sense of Home by siny 53k, Stiles/Derek, h/c, angst, hallucinations,

Home can be a place, but it can also be a person.

After the events with the Nemeton, Stiles starts suffering the consequences of their sacrifice. A journey he attempts to make on his own, but only becomes worse with every step he takes. In the process he seeks comfort in an unexpected place and it draws him toward an unexpected person.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/508648 You Saw Me Standing Alone by orphan_account 43k, Stiles/Derek,

A pack of alpha werewolves is burning a war path through Beacon Hills; Stiles shouldn’t have the luxury of trying to get laid.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1168884 What's Up Pinocchio? by Brego_Mellon_Nin 11k, Stiles/Derek,

Stiles has settled in for a bit of self indulgence, favorite porn uploaded and ready, his recently neglected dick already stirring. For a few minutes he simply watches as the two guys start kissing and touching, but as soon as the bigger guy starts sucking his partner, Stiles groans and grabs for his own erection. Except, when he grabs hold of it, it feels… foreign in his hand. Pulse jumping, he snaps his eyes downward. Then he sputters and flails, nearly tipping over the edge of the mattress. What the everloving fuck?

Stiles knows his dick, okay? He knows it well. He knows how long it is, how thick it is - measuring is a normal thing for a curious teenager, it really is - but somehow, that’s not true anymore.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/550277 This Time With Feeling by Crimson1 36k, Stiles/Derek,

"Derek Hale, if you refuse to learn from your past…then you will be doomed to repeat it." In which Derek is turned into a 16-year-old and has to stay with Stiles until they figure out how to turn him back.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7451080 Drown Me with Kisses by LadySlytherin 19k, Stiles/Derek, pining,

When a rusalka in the preserve nearly kills Stiles with a kiss, Stiles is in grave danger any time he’s near a source of water - not just rivers, lakes, and oceans, but pools, bathtubs, the shower, a sink full of water - you put water in it, and it could probably kill Stiles now. Deaton’s advice? Break the rusalka’s magic with a kiss of opposite power - love to beat out death.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3569615 I Dream of Stiles by runningwithdinosaurs 12k, Stiles/Derek, AU,

In retrospect, Derek never should have rubbed the lamp.

But Derek did, which is how he got stuck with Stiles, who was truly a terrible genie. He didn’t even do things the way a normal genie was supposed to.

“What do you mean ‘it’s not three wishes’?” Derek bit out, glaring at Stiles, who was perched on the end of his couch. Literally perched. Like crouched on his tip toes.

“I don’t really know how to make it clearer,” Stiles said, long fingers twisting in the bright red hoodie he was wearing. “Is English not your first language? No son tres deseos. Ce ne est pas trois souhaits. To nie trzy życzenia.”

(Or the one where Stiles is a genie and Derek lives broken and alone in New York until a certain mole-covered immortal teenager LITERALLY pops into his life.)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/751941 Graceless by AsexualDerek (Cammerel) 22k, Stiles/Derek, straight men having gay sex,

Stiles doesn't ask for much in return, but a 'please' would be nice.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3097259 Run To You by Emela 31k, Stiles/Derek, feral!derek, h/c,

A witch casts a spell, turning Derek feral and leaving him the equivalent of a frightened puppy. Stiles is the only one he trusts to protect him and of course, Stiles is only too happy to help. (Which has nothing to do with all these feelings he's suddenly having, okay? Derek's just a really cute werewolf puppy.)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1783486 Lap Magnet by Prairie_Grass 30k, Stiles/Derek, 5+1, accidental bonding,

Wherein an ill-advised floral arrangement leads to a whole new definition of obliviousness, accidental mate-bonds, and far more sex and tropes than one fic really needs.

Five times Derek and Stiles didn’t notice how close they were (literally) and then a whole bunch of times when they did...

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4035982 You'll Grow Into Your Skin by crossroadswrite 11k, Stiles/Derek, implied mpreg,

“So funny story,” Stiles winces, “Remember when I joked you couldn’t get me pregnant?”

Derek nods his head. He remembers pretty much everything from that day.

“Right,” Stiles bobs his head, stops himself and does a little ta-da gesture towards Jacy, “Surprise?”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/696562 Invited Inside by blacktofade 14k, Stiles/Derek, biting, bloodplay,

Of all the things to finally bite him, a vampire is truly at the bottom of Stiles’ list.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7806307 Hot Pocket Ratio by ShippersList 12k, Stiles/Derek, canon-AU, incubus,

At the threat of the alpha pack, all Derek wants is to keep his pack safe and alive. As the last resort, he tries summoning a demon to help with fighting the alpha pack. He gets a bit more than he bargained for.

Or, the story where the classic demon deal of "Will you pledge your firstborn to me?" takes some unexpected turns.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/761973 Cosomination by zoemathemata 11k, Stiles/Derek, 5+1, pining, bed sharing,

For Fictional Force/Hoktauri who prompted “pining! Derek/oblivious! Stiles, graduation day”

Cosominate - To sleep together in the same bed or similar space.

Five Times Derek and Stiles Sleep Together - 4 platonic bed shares and one not-platonic bed share! Features Pining! Derek, Oblivious!Stiles and a very tense moment where Sheriff Stilinski has been hurt! But it all turns out okay.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8016247 Between Dogs and Wolves by artemis69 25k, Stiles/Derek, AU, mafia, violence. pining,

"This is…not four million in cash,” remarks Stilinski.

“Isaac. Did you fail to get my money back and decided to pick up a stripper on the road to bribe me? Because let me make this perfectly clear: this would totally work. Well done.”

The mafia!AU where the Hales owe four million to the Stilinskis, Laura rents Derek (but not as a stripper), Stiles gets a new favorite, Derek gets a new boss, a new puppy and a new family.

Sometimes they break people, but mainly, they just snark at each other.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3992896 Wolf in the House by JoeLawson 33k, Stiles/Derek, wolf!derek,

“What? It’s totally an improvement. He’s not scowling, or dating bad guys, or slinking around in unsanitary places. Still a bit paranoid, but what can you do. At least he’s a lot easier to get along with when you can buy his affections with ear rubs.”

“And you always wanted a dog,” Sheriff added wryly.

“And I always wanted a dog.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1727696 Just the Same by ericaismeg 68k, Stiles/Derek, canon-AU, highschool, pining,

Something is seriously up with the captain of the lacrosse team. There's just no way Derek Hale is human. *** “I was wondering if you're even human. You move so quickly. I mean, it's ridiculously fast. No human should be able to move that fast, y'know? It's unfair for us. I mean, it's obvious you work out, and I don't, so that could be why, but like...I was just wondering if you were human, that's all.”

“Stop talking, Stilinski, or I'll—”

“Put me on the bench all season?” Stiles asks knowing full well that Derek Hale can't threaten him with shit.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1162093 Lie Down with Dogs by uraneia 3k, Stiles/Derek, slightly subby!derek, aftercare, wolf!derek,

Stiles gives Derek a flea bath. Then things get weird.

“Is this a joke?” Stiles says when Derek hands him the bottle. It has to be a joke, right? This is just more evidence of Derek’s redeveloping sense of humor. Ha-ha. He’s hilarious.

“Does it look like I’m joking,” Mr. Murder Eyebrows himself says flatly.

Fuck, he’s not joking.

Stiles turns the bottle over in his hands. No matter how many times he reads it, it still says Flea Treatment Shampoo for Dogs.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1251133 Under The Wolf, Under The Dog by Narcissistic_Ninny 5k, Stiles/Derek, wolf!derek,

“So, uh, I noticed you’re commando most days. Is that because you have to transform, or cause you just don’t-”

“Oh my god,” he said. “I’m not having this conversation with you.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/962660 The Scent of an Oncoming Storm by accol 13k, Stiles/Derek, scent marking, watersports,

In the weeks after Derek becomes alpha, he and Stiles form a reluctant team

http://archiveofourown.org/works/723433 I Ran (So Far) by thepsychicclam 33k, Derek/Stiles,

“But, you don’t run,” Derek pointed out, confused.

“People can get new hobbies,” Stiles snapped. “Geez, if I’d known it was going to be this big of a deal, I’d have called you first. Want me to give you my workout schedule? That way you can coordinate your nose accordingly?”

In which Stiles' summer starts off so badly he starts running, gets pelted by paint balls, and decides he is, in fact, going crazy if he willingly wants to hang out with Derek Hale.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/467550 The Life of Stiles by rispacooper 14k, Stiles/Derek, scent marking,

First Stiles is in denial, then he is just confused.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5640295 As Cryptic as the Moon by Formaldehyde_Eyes 30k, Stiles/Derek, canon-AU, scent marking, psychic powers,

“So,” Stiles started, everything about him unsure with how to explain it. “I sometimes have these dreams. About wolves.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10374501 It's Platonic Until It's Not by hbunting1403 16k, Stiles/Derek, canon-AU, scent marking,

Yes, Scott and Stiles sleep in the same bed. Stiles would rather cut off both of his hands than touch Scott sexually, but he’s no stranger to showing affection, and they cuddle on a pretty regular basis. Their relationship is, in Stiles’ eyes, normal and healthy and exactly what they both need. Then Scott meets Alison, and they fall in love over a fucking pen (which is sickly sweet but so Scott), and Stiles suddenly has a lot more time on his hands.

Cue pottery classes, stargazing, a new friendship, and a lot of (totally platonic) fantasizing.

Even if Derek is hotter than the sun.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/446553 Flipped and Awkwardly Reversed by harlequin421 13k, Stiles/Derek, h/c,

Scott getting bitten by a werewolf didn’t only change his life; it brought a sourpuss of a creeper werewolf into Stiles life who doesn’t seem to understand the concept of personal space or that windows aren’t doors, or you know, manners.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/4620849 Proprietary by Osidiano 8k, Scott/Stiles, scent marking, praise kink, facials,

Written for the TWKM: Stiles needs to smell like he's having sex with Scott because SERIOUS REASONS and they decide that a facial is the least awkward way to accomplish that, except they're both way more into it than they expected and things keep escalating. Like, Scott has no idea how this got from 'werewolf-awkwardly-masturbating-several-feet-away' to Stiles telling him, "Maybe. . . Maybe you should rub your dick against my face a little. You know. To make sure I smell believable."

". . .Yeah," Scott pants. "Yeah, that makes sense."

http://archiveofourown.org/works/751583 The Boy and the Beast by Dira Sudis (dsudis) 116k, Stiles/Derek, canon-AU, slow build,

In which events in Beacon Hills go rather differently from the start, and a Beauty and the Beast (ish) story ensues. (Scott is not a teacup and no one sings about their feelings.)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1035300 Dude, Werewolves by mysecretashes 29k, Stiles/Derek, canon- AU, scent marking, frottage,

Stiles gets partnered with Cora for a history project, and they become bros. Also, he kind of falls in love with her older brother, Derek.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/2141295 What the Body Grasps Not by sexyvanillatiger 21k, Jackson/Stiles, pre-canon,

Fulfillment of this prompt from the Teen Wolf Throwback Fest:

"So I have this headcanon that the reason Jackson and Stiles don't get along is because Jackson adored Claudia Stilinski. She was the children's librarian or volunteered at their school a lot, maybe watched Jackson after school, whatever, but she spent a lot of time around the kids, maybe helped Jackson overcome some reading issues, talked to him, listened to him in a way his mother didn't and so Jackson grew attached to her and jealous of Stiles, who always seemed to be acting up and giving her a hard time (pre-medicated ADHD) and Jackson was convinced Stiles didn't deserve her. Then she died. So Jackson doesn't know how to deal with that and Stiles is barely coping and maybe words are said which leads to years of actual, seething hatred, culminating in hate sex. Lots of hate sex. That. Keeps. Happening."

http://archiveofourown.org/works/625632 Goldilocks by tourdefierce 11k, Stiles/Derek, bed sharing,

It may be the wrong fairytale to fit their odd world, but Derek was most definitely Goldilocks, and somehow, Stiles' bed was juuuuuust right.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9641306 Without You by fearfrost1211 4k, Stiles/Derek, touch starved, frottage, first time,

Half a choked laugh boils up out of him. He had sex with Derek Hale.

Sex. With Derek.

He's never going to be able to shower in the locker room again.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/3904933 Little Wild Animal by DiscontentedWinter 61k, Stiles/Derek, AU, fluff,

Derek Hale finds a feral human on his pack's property. Humans are supposed to be extinct. But then, Stiles is full of surprises.

Star Wars

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5638204 step out into the sun by plutos 71k, Poe/Finn, slow burn, fake relationship, accidental marriage, pining, fluff,

“I gotta talk to you, buddy, real quick,” Poe says lowly, and grabs Finn’s hand to haul him back out of the mess hall. His pilot friends cheer loudly, Karé yelling something about keeping it decent, and Finn barely has a second to process it before Poe’s yanking him away and into a deserted side corridor.

“I can explain,” he says quickly, running his spare hand through his hair.

“Well good,” Finn snaps hotly, “Because I’ve had a really fucking weird day.” _____________________________

Otherwise known as: Finn Is An Oblivious Numbskull, or: the one where Finn gets a name, a jacket, a droid, and a marriage out of nowhere in only a few short weeks.

the softest fic

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5926144 tell me about the big bang by thebrotherswinchester 37k, Poe/Finn, slow burn, pining, angst,

There is a part of him that says: you are not human.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5798602 have you heard by peradi 42k, gen, side ships, revolution, propaganda, redemption,

"I heard FN-2187 was a Stormtrooper."

Finn sparks a revolution.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5619475 my own secret ceremonials. by ameliorates 3k, Finn/Rey/Poe, UST, mutual masturbation,

the mathematics are simple. the reality is a hot, sticky delirium. -- poe struggles with frustrated longing.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5753218 BB-Gate by ignitesthestars, nymja 5k, Jessika Pava/Rey,

Jessika and Rey attempt to solve one of the galaxy's greatest mysteries: was BB-8 giving a thumb's up or the middle finger?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8763691 Horrible and Terrible and Good All At Once by Mellow_Yellow 72k, Credence/Graves, arranged marriage,

Graves was a lead Auror, and as such prided himself on his ability to stay calm in a crisis, to keep his head, to remain even-keeled and articulate no matter the situation. So no one was more surprised than he was when he opened his mouth and heard himself blurting out, “Excuse me, ma’am, but I would like to purchase your son.”

Seemingly without hesitation, and before Mary Lou had the chance to respond, Credence burst forth with his own, “Yes, sir, you may have me.”

Then they both fell silent, equally shocked at their words. Merlin’s balls. Somewhere upstate, Graves was sure his father had just burst into laughter and had no idea why.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9136114 Roche Limit by Rrrowr 19k, Credence/Graves, a/b/o,

Thirty years, Graves has managed to hide this, smothering the very base notes of his scent with suppressants while keeping intact the identifying markers — chocolate, blood orange, and ash. Thirty years, he's managed to kill every instinct he has to bare his throat when challenged, funneling his nurturing instincts into a desire to protect, widening his idea of family to include all of wizardkind. For thirty years, he spent his heats doubling up on potions and taking sick days when that wasn't enough.

Thirty years spent facing that challenge, and now — all of it threatened by the fact that he wanted, for just one night, to be himself.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9095290 the king of oak bysaltpans 38k, Credence/Graves, recovery, slow burn, fae,

The first thing Percival Graves does after being released back into the world is buy a new wand. He's at Greymalkin's for ten minutes and the only wand that works for him is raw aspen, whiter than bone and so rough that Graves gives himself a splinter conjuring a storm of birds. The wand—dragon heartstring, a most unusual wand for an American wizard, according to a flustered Greymalkin—feels wild, and Graves empties half his wallet on the counter and keeps his hand on his new wand all the way home.

The second thing he does is quit his job, because honestly.

("Grindelwald did his research before he put on your face," Seraphina says reasonably. "And it's not like you're open with your personal life. He has us all fooled."

"He wore scorpion stickpins!" Graves shoots back, somewhat less reasonably.

Seraphina looks at Graves, his pressed creases, his immaculate shirt, the red ruby cufflinks he's wearing to hide the starved brittleness of his wrists. "I'm sorry," she says. It is not enough to make him stay.)

The third thing he does is get jumped by Credence Barebone in an alley.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9904355 Nothing Shall be Impossible by terriblelifechoices 61k, Credence/Graves, dub-con, forced pregnancy, prison, protectiveness, fluff,

Inspired by a prompt on the kinkmeme:

Grindelwald figures Credence is too old and damaged to be useful, but his genes are clearly strong. Graves' genes are pretty awesome too with wandless magic and whatnot. So he decides to make them do it and train their offspring as perfectly loyal soldiers.

___

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” Graves asked.

Grindelwald sighed, as if he found Graves’ questions tedious. “I told you,” he said. “I’ve Seen your child. Together, the two of you will produce a wizard so powerful that the armies of the world will tremble before him. He will be the first and most honored among my generals, and together we will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for wizard-kind.”

“You know,” Graves said, conversational. “When I asked you if you were out of your goddamn mind, the short answer would have been to just say yes.”

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9157615 your need grows teeth by alamorn 10k, Credence/Graves,

There is something that Credence never told Mr. Graves. The man he thought was Mr. Graves. The man who cupped his skull and slapped his face.

Some of the wounds he healed for Credence were not from Mary Lou. Whenever he woke from lost time, he would find deep gashes around his fault lines, like a cheap toy put poorly together. He did not tell Mr. Graves that he did not know how he got them, just allowed him to smooth them away.

Note: this does not contain self harm.

Harry Potter

(also, The Cursed Child)

http://archiveofourown.org/series/583285 Alone series by mischiefmanager 3k, Albus Severus/Scorpius, masturbation,

Albus is an angst-monster who is in love with his best friend and it is absolutely tearing him apart.

Scorpius is a cinnamon roll who is in love with his best friend and it's...well, maybe a bit lonely but mostly overall it's pretty brilliant!

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7331278 Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run by waspabi 93k, Harry/Draco, canon-AU, pining,

'You're a wizard, Harry' is easier to hear from a half-giant when you're eleven, rather than from some kids on a tube platform when you're seventeen and late for work.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6239806 Stately Homes of Wiltshire by waspabi 57k, Harry/Draco, post-hogwarts, pining,

Malfoy Manor has mould, dry rot and an infestation of unusually historical poltergeists. Harry Potter is on the case.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

http://archiveofourown.org/works/247621 Detente by entanglednow 3k, Dr.Horrible/Captain Hammer,

"I'm your nemesis, you're not supposed to be having sex dreams about me, what would your psychiatrist say?"

http://archiveofourown.org/works/138889 Echoes in a Lonely World by etothepii 8k, Dr. Horrible/Captain Hammer, empathy bond,

Dr. Horrible carries his device (it doesn’t have a name yet, but he’s been mentally referring to it as "That Empathy Thing") with him on heists for a week and a half before Captain Hammer finally shows up. Not nearly as serious as the title suggests.

Dream Daddy: a Dad Dating Simulator

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11613825 An Intervention by Tenebrosa 2k, Craig/Robert, praise kink,

Craig needs to loosen the fuck up and damn if Robert isn't the King of Relaxation. How he does it might be a little...unorthodox, but really, who's gonna judge them all the way out here?

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11652366 I'm Selfish, I'm Obscene by passionfruits 7k, Joseph/Robert,

A collection of Roseph intimacy. A bittersweet treatise on the unholy trinity of Joseph, Robert, and Mary.

AKA how much kink, fluff, and angst can I shove in one messy PWP dump? If you haven't read covet yet, I recommend doing that first. It's a good prequel.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11688816 Whatever's Written in Your Heart by captaincharming 16k, Joseph/Robert, infidelity,

“Hey,” Robert says again, turning Joseph’s face back to his. “Look at me. You think Mary don’t already think this is happening? She’s been asking me for years if I’m screwing her husband yet.”

Lucifer

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9329171 Worthy and Forgiven by Erya 31k, Lucifer/Dan, friendship,

In which Dan accidentally winds up in a confused sort of maybe friendship with the Devil himself, through absolutely no fault of his own.

Stranger Things

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7662067 Have Happened by cortexikid 43k, Jonathan/Steve/Nancy, slow burn,

"I overheard you. You were talking in your sleep.”

Steve's heart fluttered nervously.

“It was a little funny at first,” Nancy admitted, her tone a mix of teasing and apologetic, “you were moaning my name and I thought it’d be kinda funny if Mike accidentally overheard you having a sex dream about his sister—”

Steve couldn’t control the guffaw that escaped him.

“But then you said Jonathan’s name. Right after mine. All in the same breath.”

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11917929 the destiny of human handwriting by cosmicocean, princessparadox 53k, Todd/Dirk, soulmates,

Even from a young age, he isn’t a romantic. It’s around third grade that kids start writing to their Match, eight year olds asking questions about their name, where they’re from, what they like, who they are. Todd doesn’t. He’s not really into the idea of Matches, even if it’s something he can’t change. People fall in love with people. If he falls in love, he’s not going to fall in love with someone who he knows only from ink on his arms that he didn’t put there.

Whoever his Match is, however, does not feel the same way. His left arm (so he must be right handed) is covered with doodles. Crude flowers drawn with what looks like ballpoint pens, so lots of skipping and gaps in the lines. Sometimes the outlines of hearts that look like fountain pens, but are smudged quickly, the ink running too hard.

Soulmate AU where anything you write on your arm appears visible on your soulmate's. Written for the Dirk Gently Big Bang 2017.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9630893 Electric Ghost Rhino by Lavellington 8k, Todd/Dirk, pre-slash, bed sharing,

Dirk and Todd are not co-dependent, exactly. They've just had a rough couple of weeks.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9619238 Delete Me, Repeat Me, Let's Try This Again by coloursflyaway 6k, Todd/Dirk, pining,

Dirk is in love with Todd, that much is clear. The question is what Todd intends to do with that information.

#notdead recs #fic rec #rec list

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roughand · 6 years

Text

The Last Jedi

Things I enjoyed

Rey

I liked Rey a lot in this movie. I thought Daisy Ridley gave a strong performance, and she really made me feel her frustration and exasperation. I liked the nuance she brought to her scenes with Ben, and I liked what a good no-bullshit foil she was for Luke. I don’t have a lot to say because I liked pretty much everything she did, even when she was stuck in a less-than-good scene.

Rey’s Parentage

I didn’t mind that Rey’s parents were nobodies. It’s kind of nice, because for the last 20 years Star Wars as a franchise has been obsessed with the Skywalkers, to the point that they’ve become this narrative trump-card, and in any conflict it’s only a matter of time before one of them turns up and performs some heroic feat using the Force. I don’t love the fact that Rey is both super powerful AND innately skilled (as it robs her journey of some much needed conflict), but I do at least like the fact that she’s not a Skywalker, and can hopefully explore her own path.

Ben Solo

Adam Driver is excellent in the role, and brings a lot of menace and tension to the scene whenever he’s on screen. I don’t love the narrative decision to make him the Big Bad for the next movie, but at the very least he’s doing good things with the material they are giving him. I liked his conflict, I liked his interactions with Rey, and I liked his insane lack of control toward the end. He’s a very finely-crafted character.

Ben’s reason for turning to the Dark Side

I thought this moment, where Luke senses the growing darkness and Snoke’s corruption in Ben and briefly turns his lightsaber on, was perfect. It was such a raw moment that fit into what we knew about both characters. Luke is rash and impulsive, he always has been. Ben Solo is clearly hurting from wounds and rejections we don’t fully understand yet, but we can see the emotional scars. It makes sense for Luke to peer over the precipice but ultimately back down from killing Ben, just like it makes sense for Ben to feel a powerful sense of betrayal, and to carry that rage and hatred for a very long time. This was excellent characterization, and one of the few moments where I felt the movie (or really, the new trilogy) had strong and good ideas about what happened to Luke/Leia/Han post-ROTJ.

Ben & Rey

I liked the weird Force-connection that let them interact with each other, even if it was ultimately revealed to have been one of Snoke’s ploys. But the two are the most talented actors in the production, so giving them a chance to play off each other is a good idea. Plus, this introduced an aspect of the Force that, while new, didn’t feel too out of line with what we’d already known.

The destruction of the Dreadnought above D’Qar

This fight had the benefit of being at the start of the movie, which meant you couldn’t be sure how any of it would play out. We don’t know if Poe will get shot down and captured, or crash on some strange planet, or be sent hurtling into space. Maybe the attack will succeed, maybe it will fail horribly, maybe there will be heavy losses on both sides. It’s all possible, and made for exciting action.

They also did a good job with minor characters like Rose’s sister, and giving them small stories to engage the audience without putting the protagonists in any serious danger. They did well to flesh out these supporting characters, because their deaths were more impactful, and their struggles more tense.

In comparison, look at the fight on Crait. As visually appealing as parts of it were, the outcome was a foregone conclusion--Luke had to sacrifice himself in a grand way to (1) bring hope back to the galaxy, (2) help the Rebels escape, and (3) inspire Rey. The only people left in that bunker were the main cast and a handful of extras. It was pretty clear that everyone had to make it out alive, and that Luke/Rey would be the ones to do it. That meta-knowledge robbed the sequence of a lot of the dramatic weight it should have had.

The destruction of Snoke’s ship

This was right up there with the Star Destroyer crashing into the Super Star Destroyer in ROTJ. In fact, it was probably better. There was a lot of very visceral visuals throughout, and the silence of the initial explosion was perfect.

BB-H8

He didn’t overstay his welcome, and even though it was preposterous to think that the First Order troops wouldn’t notice BB-8’s disguise, I liked that they had him noticed by one of his own kind. Given that the weird droids are always a fixation for Star Wars, this felt very much true to the universe.

The fight with Snoke’s guards

I enjoyed this because it was a good lightsaber fight-scene that didn’t go all CG like the prequels, but still had more finesse and interesting fight choreography than all the fights in the originals. Plus, seeing Ben and Rey fight together (as opposed to against each other), and help each other out occasionally, was a nice subversion of expectations.

The Kylo Ren/General Hux rivalry

As I’ll mention below, the humor was often something I didn’t enjoy about the movie, but the Kylo/Hux rivalry always felt very entertaining. It never got too cartoonish, but consistently reminded us that Hux is more than just a putz and that there’s no love lost between the two characters. It was effective at what it set out to do, and entertaining in the process.

The spaceship-that-was-actually-an-iron

This was a great cut late in the movie, reminiscent of the bit in Raiders of the Lost arc where the scary villain has the girl tied up and captive and he starts unpacking what looks like some sort of sadistic torture device...only for it to actually be a coathanger for his heavy leather coat. This is the kind of humor that fits a bit better with the tone, and fleshes out the world in ways that feel realistic.

Things I was unimpressed by

Much of the humour

Including:

Luke flicking the invisible lint off his shoulder after the AT-AT barrage

Luke milking the alien

Luke tickling Rey with the leaf

Poe taunting Hux about his mom

Finn wandering around in the suit leaking water (felt very “JJ Abrams Star Trek Kirk wandering around with the swelling disease)

I’m not averse to comedy (see my list of things I enjoyed for several comedic moments that worked), but a lot of this felt like it was from a different movie. Luke has never been a jokester, he’s always been almost painfully earnest. MARK HAMILL, on the other hand, is a funny weird guy with a huge personality...but that’s not Luke. I’m happy for Hamill and Fisher to get roles that are more in line with their real-world personalities, but at the same time Hamill’s performance especially didn’t read as the Luke we knew.

The rest of the comedy, particularly from Poe/Finn, but also from Chewbacca and the Porgs, just feels like it’s targeted to the child audience consuming this. It’s cheesy and doesn’t feel fresh, nor does it vibe with the rest of the film.

The stupid Jedi Tree and the stupid Jedi Texts

Ugh, so like, I don’t enjoy the way the sequels (TFA & TLJ) have handled the idea of Jedi in a post-ROTJ world. My biggest issue here is that the Force isn’t going away. It’s still there, and people will still be born who can control it. The little slave-boy Force-pulling his broom is evidence of that. So this idea that “Luke is the last jedi and everyone’s forgotten about the Jedi (again) and they might disappear for good” is just preposterous. The Force is like magic in Harry Potter. Lots of people are born with the ability to use it, and they’re gonna cause a lot of problems (and draw a lot of attention to themselves) unless someone helps them to learn to use it safely. So I just find it hard to buy that the Jedi are constantly at risk of dying out and being completely forgotten (again) despite the fact that people all over the fucking galaxy are clearly being born with Force abilities.

Then there’s just this whole idea that Luke would somehow become so slavishly devoted to the IDEA of the Jedi that he’d squirrel himself and the last remaining Jedi texts away on some planet. I mean, the most obvious thing here is that if Luke thought the Jedi were so dangerous and that they shouldn’t continue to exist, then he should have just killed himself and burned the books years ago. Keeping them in that silly tree (when you have a perfectly good mountain temple complex which no doubt offers better protection from the elements) was just a needlessly contrived set-up for Yoda to burn it down later.

Captain Phasma

Man, Captain Phasma seemed like she’d be such a cool character before TFA--Brienne of Tarth as a badass unique chrome stormtrooper! But now after two movie’s she’s done ZERO interesting things, and instead has had her ass handed to her embarrassingly by Finn twice now. And not even in a “wow that was satisfying to see David beat Goliath with ingenuity and skill” but rather in a “wow, is Phasma THAT useless that she can’t fight off this spaz?” Phasma became more of a punchline than anything when she showed up on screen because there’s zero threat to the character. She’s never done anything exciting or dastardly or shocking or intimidating. She just looks menacing because her armor is shiny and everyone else’s is matte.

The Dark Side cave on Ahch-To

I understand the point of this scene--Rey is who matters, not her parentage. It’s her own self she should be worried about, and exploring, and which poses the most potential for greatness or terrible things. But ultimately it felt very out of place in the film because it lacked the overt connections to Rey’s wider arc that Luke’s same experience in the Dark Side cave on Dagobah had. Luke goes into the cave and we, the audience, know that Vader is his antagonist, and that Luke is deeply afraid of him. Having Vader in the cave was fantastic, because it makes us question what��s real--is Vader here or is Luke fighting his own fears? And then to have Luke defeat Vader, and remove the mask to find his own face (shades of The Prisoner) was excellent foreshadowing for the eventual reveal that Vader was Luke’s father, and that perhaps what Luke should fear most is himself. They packed a lot of narrative heft into Luke’s cave sequence. Rey’s, in contrast, didn’t seem to advance anything we didn’t already know, or have reason to suspect, and there was no subtlety revealed during the rest of the movie, no moment where suddenly Rey’s experience in the cave was cast in a new light. As a result, it just felt ancillary and unnecessary.

The Porgs

The Porgs were cute...and then immediately overused. It’s hard to introduce a character or race, and then make them feel oversaturated so quickly, but TLJ succeeded in that mission. I don’t hate the Porgs, but everytime one appeared on screen it felt like the film was directly interacting with a younger audience, and I was no longer part of that experience.

Luke Skywalker’s character/storyline

Right off the bat, I didn’t buy the backstory that Luke went into seclusion after what happened with Ben. It feels very much like JJ Abrams said “I want my movie to be about everyone looking for Luke!” but then no one since has been able to come up with a plausible reason for Luke to abandon everything the way he did. It’s one thing for me to assume that YOUNG Luke is incredibly short-sighted and rash, but JEDI MASTER Luke should have already learned a lot of the lessons that Yoda taught him in TLJ. I mean, the whole “learning from failure thing” is pretty much what he learned at the end of Empire Strikes Back. It just goes back to that idea that if your plot relies on your characters acting like idiots for it to work, then you need to do some re-writes.

Consider that when Luke visited Dagobah and Yoda acted weird at first, it was because Yoda was testing Luke. Luke came there looking for a great warrior to train him to fight, and Yoda needed to disabuse him of those notions before he could actually start training him. Yoda’s shtick was just that--a false persona intended to see how Luke would react, and to expose his faulty assumptions about what it means to be a Jedi.

But when Rey visits Luke on Ahch-To, he’s a dick to her because he doesn’t WANT to teach her. Again, this just doesn’t seem like Luke’s style. He’s an idealist, he’s someone who sees the good in everyone. It’s why he couldn’t bring himself to kill Ben, so it beggars belief that he would so callously refuse to train Rey. Moreover, it was a huge contrivance (more on that later) that Luke had “withdrawn from the Force” because that’s never really been how that works, but also because that was only a thing so Luke wouldn’t sense the fact that Rey and Ben were in contact. Like, it didn’t make sense for Luke to have not been touching the Force all these years, and it doesn’t make sense that he wouldn’t be able to detect the presence of someone like Ben. But again, the plot wouldn’t have worked unless Luke’s entire character is fundamentally altered so that he’s a crotchety recluse who lacks the Force-awareness even characters like Leia seem to have.

No chance to process the events on Snoke’s ship

There is a total lack of Rey processing what happened on Snoke’s ship in the script. One minute she and Ben are literally tearing apart Luke’s lightsaber after they’ve turned on each other, and seconds earlier they killed a dozen elite First Order Guards after Ben executed Supreme Leader Snoke, who moments before had been torturing Rey. And the next minute Rey’s on the Falcon, with Chewie, shooting at TIE Fighters and seeming totally chill. There was zero time to process the impact of everything that happened to her, and given that the whole reason she went to Snoke’s ship was to save Ben, it beggars belief that she’d be so cavalier after having him reject her so spectacularly.

Holdo

I love Laura Dern, and she did a fine job with the limited material she was given (ugh, that “may the For--” “oh i’m sorry, you go” “no you go!” exchange with Leia was cheeseball to the extreme), but there were three elements of Holdo’s character that didn’t make a lot of sense:

Why not tell people, or at least Poe, that she still had a plan, that the transport ships weren’t just going to fly randomly into space but that she had a destination in mind? Instead, Holdo, who seemed very capable, suddenly seems like she’s ok with letting mutiny foment on her watch because….why? She thinks Poe is a flyboy? It wasn’t good leadership, and she could still have inspired hope without seeming like she was without a plan. How is acting like everyone’s probably going to die an inspiring approach for a leader to take?

Why was Holdo, who is ostensibly a brilliant, seasoned, compassionate general, the ONLY PERSON who can fly the cruiser’s suicide mission? Surely there was a low-level tech or even a droid for god’s sake who could have done it? Her death seemed to exist to ensure there was a “heroic sacrifice” moment for the rebellion, which felt very contrived and not authentic.

Why did Holdo wait so long before kamikaze-ing!? I can understand that due to the magic of editing less time may have passed from her perspective than the audience’s (as we are cutting back and forth to simultaneous action elsewhere), but we still watch Holdo sitting there while at LEAST 3-5 rebel transports get destroyed before she decides to ram Snoke’s ship. Like, she KNEW she was going to die on the cruiser, so why not ram Snoke immediately, or at least after he destroyed the first transport? Holdo standing there and looking stricken and helpless while the rebels are getting shot like fish in a barrel felt almost comical. It was so obvious that she had to ram the ship that it was frustrating that the plot forced her to wait so long.

The Knights of Ren

Someone else pointed this out online, but: where are the Knights of Ren? What is that? Why introduce it if it’s never mentioned again? Will these guys ever crop up? How do they fit into Ben Solo’s backstory?

Luke’s other students

Yet again we get a mention that Ben Solo left Luke’s academy with a few students he had turned to his cause (or, presumably, who Snoke had turned to his cause). What happened to them? How come Luke isn’t torn up about them, too?

Things I really disliked

Let’s start with a bunch of little things that really bugged me:

Ackbar dying offscreen

Ackbar is one of the most iconic characters from the original films (at least to fans) and he deserved a bit more than being killed offscreen. He could easily have been one of the many ship captains that Holdo watched go down with their ships via hologram as they were picked off one-by-one. Using him that way would really have upped the stakes as we watched a beloved character from the original film die in a heroic but senseless way.

Luke throwing his father’s lightsaber away

Yeah, this was very out-of-character for Luke. That lightsaber must hold a LOT of significance and memories for him. To see him toss it away so callously just felt like people wanted a funny beat to end the scene on more than they wanted to stay true to the character. It didn’t ruin the movie for me, but it definitely IMMEDIATELY gave me the sense that they didn’t have a good handle on Luke’s character.

The New Republic falling so easily

In The Force Awakens, it is heavily implied that the galaxy is relatively peaceful place and the remnants of the Empire have retreated into obscurity. Admittedly, I’m not as well versed in the SW political structure as I used to be, a quick google search confirms that as recently as 6 years prior to The Force Awakens, there was still a galactic senate looking after things. Given that’s the same New Republic senate that gets destroyed by Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens, it makes you wonder how easy it is to take over a galaxy? Like, right now any kind of large scale continental invasion is prohibitively complicated and costly. Similarly, subjugating literally dozens of worlds is not a cheap, fast, or simple affair. It’s quite time-consuming, and requires extraordinary resources. It seems rather convenient that the Imperial Remnant could build up such a devastating fleet without the New Republic noticing, but also improbable that any Imperial Fleet could immediately establish control over the WHOLE GALAXY (remember, no one answers Leia’s distress call at the end of TLJ) by blowing up ONE planet.

It reminded me of late-period Game of Thrones where characters would just stab each other and “take” that person’s power. GoT spent almost 4 seasons demonstrating that it didn’t work that way--stab the man at the top and you might find yourself with no power and surrounded by enemies--only to do an about face in the last three seasons on that point. TLJ felt like it did the same thing. We’re told the galaxy is huge, and full of different planets and species and people, but then the First Order blows up one planet and everyone falls into line? Way too convenient.

The slave kids on Canto Bight

Is it just me or does the SW franchise seem to present a really happy-go-lucky depiction of child slavery? Anakin and Shmee’s enslavement to Watto was frequently played for laughs, even the bit when Anakin was giggling about the explosive device planted in his and his mother’s brains that would detonate and kill them if they tried to run away.

Similarly, Rose and Finn stumble upon these slave-kids who are forced to care for alien race horses, and they save the bulk of their sympathy...for the horses? Like, I get it, animals in captivity are sad and we want to free them...but there were literal child slaves there that Rose and Finn did not seem in any way concerned by.

Like, when the one kid presses the button to free the horses all I could think was “Man, he’s probably going to get whipped to death for that! Why don’t Rose and Finn seem to care?” The fact that the movie KEPT RETURNING to them, too, felt a bit odd. These kids are enslaved on a pleasure planet that caters to rich arms dealers, and based on how the casino treats the alien-horses, I can’t imagine they treat their child-slaves much better.

So that just took me out of whatever scene the kids appeared in.

The bad dialogue

There were so many moments were the film was clearly going for some kind of iconic, powerful line (like ESB’s “Do or do not, there is no try.”) but fell miserably short. The ones that spring to mind:

The repetitions of “We are the spark that will light the fire that will burn down the first order.” It got cheesier with each person who said it.

Poor Rose got some of the worst lines:

“I want to smash this lousy beautiful city to pieces”

“Finn, we’ll never win by fighting what we hate, we’ll win by saving what we love…*dies*”

Captain Phasma’s “No! Don’t kill them quickly. Make it painful”made me groan AUDIBLY. It was such movie-speak for “Don’t hurt them! Let them escape!”

Anytime a character discussed hope and whether it was all gone, or how much was left, and who had it, and who didn’t, and oh it’s back, and hey here’s this Force-sensitive slave-kid he’s got hope too now because of his decoder ring

Any of the “yee-haw that’s one hell of a pilot” type lines from Poe or Finn.

Now for some more substantive problems:

Leia’s resurrection and Force-propelled spaceflight

This bothered me on a bunch of levels:

This would have been a good send-off for Leia. She got a lot of good moments in with Poe prior to Ben’s attack, and she really drove home the idea of how important it is for Poe to learn to be a leader. That would have been an excellent time for her death, as it would catalyze those last words to Poe, and make them really mean something. Instead, she comes back and snickers with Holdo at how thick Poe is. It’s not bad, it’s just a missed opportunity that became disappointing.

The movie seemed to care about, but then immediately stop caring about, Ben’s relationship with Leia. As far as Ben knows, Leia dies when that other TIE pilot blows up the bridge, but we never see Ben reacting to either her “death” or her resurrection (which he doubtless should have been able to sense through the Force). Leia sensed Han’s death, so shouldn’t Ben have sensed the massive amount of Force energy Leia must have used?

This was one of several scenes where I found myself asking “What the fuck are the rules anymore?” I’m not trying to be a Force-purist or anything, but as a regular member of a movie audience, a lot of the reveals in the movie felt very out-of-left-field. I get that Jedi are essentially superheroes in space, but it makes “the Force” into a bit of a plot device that can get them out of any situation. It’s further compounded by characters like Leia, and Rey, who have little to no training in the Force but who, when the situation dramatically calls for it, are able to perform tremendous feats of skill and power. If we don’t see them training and struggling with these abilities building up to those moments, then the impact is not only lessened when they occur, but the suspension of disbelief is violated. It just introduces new powers and new abilities with no groundwork or grace, and that makes it hard for audiences to stay in those moments. It then becomes a challenge for them to come up with reasons those characters DON’T continue to use those abilities. On the one hand, I can understand the whole shock/trauma-activated-ability idea, but on the other if you discover you have the ability to withstand the vacuum of space and fly through it, wouldn’t that be an ability you’d want to pursue and become better at?

Overall, though, it felt narratively cheap because we took a character who’s very much been established as NOT skilled in the Force, and had her suddenly pull off something that we hadn’t even imagined Obi-Wan or Yoda at their height could do. I’m not attacking it on scientific grounds, or even trying to say “The Force couldn’t do that!” I’m just saying that from a storytelling perspective it felt deeply unsatisfying and out of place.

Snoke

Snoke in this film was a big letdown. At first, it seemed like they had something interesting planned for him. We got to see him in the flesh early on and he had his own kind of unique menace. They got Andy Serkis to play him so clearly he’s an important part of this story. His origins and motivations are shrouded in mystery and his power level is clearly off-the-charts. It was all setting up our expectations for later reveals, or deepening his motives, or making him even more threatening.

Then he dies halfway through the film and we never learn a single new thing about him. I’m all for zagging when the audience thinks you’re going to zig, but TFA and TLJ invested a sizeable amount of their running times establishing Snoke as this big threat, who was connected to story in ways we didn’t understand yet. I can understand killing him off unexpectedly, but to do it without exploring more of his character, or setting up anyone to take his place is a big letdown.

To be clear, I understand that Ben is going to be the new Big Bad, or at least until the end of the next movie when he comes back to the light and the new Big Bad for the NEXT trilogy shows up, but Ben is not a good replacement as a primary antagonist. I mean, we know he will either be saved, like Vader was, or die heroically helping the rebels. There aren’t a lot of other directions to take him in--having him be uncomplicatedly evil would feel like a betrayal of his character up until now. I also get that Ben is slightly different than previous antagonists because he doesn’t care for the structure and regimentation of the first order, he just wants to rule as he sees fit. It’s just that that’s...kind of boring. Snoke was interesting because he was mysterious, and we couldn’t be sure what his connection to the Force, or the First Order, or to Ben really was. He was unpredictable, which made him an entertaining villain. Ben, meanwhile, is broody and prone to fits of rage. He’s very much still a child in a mask, and while that can make him intimidating to other characters, it’s not enough for a primary antagonist like Star Wars needs.

Finn’s “arc”

I get the sense that the writers really struggled to come up with something for Finn to do in this movie.

Rey’s arc was clearly connected to Luke and Ben, and did not have room for a third major figure in her emotional landscape. They may return to moren Finn/Rey stuff down the line, but this movie was first and foremost concerned with Rey/Luke and Rey/Ben.

The next strongest relationship was probably Leia/Poe. As much as I think Leia should have died off earlier in the movie, I think her arc with Poe was a decent-enough one, and will hopefully pay off in the next film, when he learns to take more of a leadership role in the rebellion. Holdo was there to give Poe an antagonist, and although I didn’t love the obvious and constant reversals of Holdo’s character (she’s good, she’s bad, she’s a coward, she’s a hero!), I thought the story pulled off the task it had set itself. Poe learned the lesson he needed to learn, as seen when he counseled Finn against sacrificing himself for the “battering ram cannon” (dumb name).

It feels like the Rey/Ben storyline was locked in, as was the Leia/Poe/Holdo storyline, but then after those two big plots, Finn had no one in the main cast to bounce off, and no one’s story needed his presence. Rey’s apprenticeship with Luke, subsequent surrender to Snoke, and eventual escape to rejoin the Rebels was completely unaffected by anything Finn did. The Rebel fleet’s attempts to escape the First Order did not need Finn’s help, and indeed reached their true objective in spite of him mucking up the plan. All he was good for on a metanarrative level (by the time his actual plan had gone up in smoke) was goosing the drama by alerting the First Order to the defenseless transport ships, thereby ensuring heavier losses for the rebels.

So obviously the writers knew that Finn needed to be there at the START of the story (to pick up with him after the last movie), and they knew where they needed him at the END of the story (on Crait, with a bone to pick with the First Order) but they didn’t really know how to get him from point A to B, nor how to ensure that nothing he does in the interim fucks up the rest of the already-established plots.

To fill the gap, they created the new character of Rose for Finn to bounce off of. It makes sense on paper--she’s grounded while he’s hyperactive, she’s sensible while he’s deeply emotional, she’s a low-ranking rebel while he’s one of the heroes--and all of their qualities make them good foils for each other. Indeed, in that first scene where she finds him trying to board the escape pod they find an enjoyable rhythm together pretty quickly, and I liked the dynamic they established.

But then it all goes deeply off the rails because the writers realized they couldn’t let them do anything that mattered. Finn’s plan had to be unsuccessful because the fleet needed to make it to Crait, not jump away. Finn couldn’t run into Rey while on Snoke’s ship because that would jumble the plot too much. So they had to keep Finn at arm’s length from doing anything useful and it showed.

What we got instead was a really problematic (See below) detour to a planet that didn’t ultimately matter, in search of a macguffin that ultimately didn’t matter, all in the service of developing a relationship with Rose, a character who may be dead and who never had any real chemistry with Finn.

I honestly wish they’d thrown out that whole thing and found a different way to incorporate Finn into either Poe or Rey’s story, because clearly they don’t have great ideas when he’s on his own.

Hyperspace tracker subplot

One of the biggest problems I had with the movie was the “First Order tracking the rebels through hyperspace” subplot. Almost EVERY ASPECT of this was a disappointment, and here is why:

Hux’s Plan First off, there’s a moment early on where Kylo walks in on a conversation between Snoke and Hux where Snoke is congratulating Hux on his clever plan, saying something about how a cur’s weakness can be his strength. It seemed to imply that some element of Hux’s personality allowed him insight into hunting the rebels, and he devised a singularly brilliant way to do it. But then ultimately it was just “the First Order are tracking the rebels through hyperspace” and that seems like, I dunno, ANYONE could have devised that plan. There was nothing to the plan that indicated ONLY Hux could have come up with it. He doesn’t seem to possess any kind of advanced scientific or technical knowledge and his strategy (Track them until they run out of fuel) isn’t exactly complex, or subtle. It’s fairly obvious. I kept waiting for a further reveal that Hux had convinced a high-ranking rebel to defect and feed him information, or SOMETHING to explain why Snoke seemed so impressed and satisfied with his plan. But it never came.

Also, how are we to believe that Rose, who is essentially an electrician, would be able to disable a high-level First Order specialized system in such a way that no one notices? It just felt super convenient that this tradesperson that Finn runs into randomly possesses the ability to effectively and secretly disable the ONE thing the First Order has been using to track the rebels. Remember, Dj the hacker only opened the door to the stupid thing, it was Rose who said she could secretly disable it all on her own.

Compounding all that letdown is the fact that, in the end, “disabling the tracking device” was barely different than “disable the tractor beam on the death star” in ANH. Just like the tractor beam on the Death Star in ANH, in TLJ it’s up to our heroes to infiltrate a massive evil ship and disable this one tiny room that should, when you think about it, be MUCH MORE HEAVILY GUARDED THAN IT WAS. At least in ANH the Death Star tractor beam room was super impressive. In TLJ, the tracker-room was a broom closet with a giant flux capacitor in it, tucked away behind some random panel in a random hallway.

Also, the whole conceit that “there’s only one ship actually tracking us” felt like an easy out, but one that didn’t hold up to scrutiny. If this truly was the last of the rebels, and wiping them out would ensure the total victory of the First Order, then maybe have a tracker on ALL your ships? Even if you’re not worried the Rebels will sneak on board and secretly disable it, you should always have redundancies for critical systems and processes like that. In the case of Ben Solo choosing to fight Luke while the rebels escape, this is an oversight that makes sense. We’ve seen how Ben can be ruthless and clever, but how there are still parts of his personality he can’t control (his need for his master’s approval, his hatred of Luke, etc.). So when he makes the mistake of facing Luke, his shortsightedness makes perfect sense. In comparison, Hux’s failure to properly safeguard this incredibly important tracking device just felt like lazy plotting.

Lastly, I’ll cover this more in a later section, but the fact that this whole entire subplot wound up having zero significance and not actually achieving anything was deeply, deeply frustrating. It’s one thing to do a Bespin-like sequence, where the heroes’ plan goes awry but they still move their arcs forward, or move the plot forward. Like, Luke faces Vader and learns a lot about himself. Leia is ripped apart from Han but finally declares her love for him in the process. Lando betrays them, but then proves to be an ally and helps them escape and joins the cause moving forward. Bespin was an unmitigated disaster in terms of “the protagonists achieving their goals” but narratively it was deeply productive. The entire “disable the tracker” subplot in TLJ only served to deepen Rose’s character who was ultimately wasted in the climax. The rest of the plotline did absolutely NOTHING to change the status quo. It almost seemed like the interaction between Finn and Benicio del Toro (aka DJ) would make Finn into a more Han-like, morally grey character, but then when DJ betrays them it’s clear Finn is a rebel through and through. Ignoring Rose’s character, what impact did the tracker-device plotline have on the larger film? I can’t think of any.

Canto Bight The problems with this part start right away with the very-hard-to-take-seriously scene where Rose and Finn just basically figure out the entire First Order plan and how to stop them in a matter of seconds. Instead of taking this information to ANYONE, like maybe Leia, they instead decide to contact Maz Kanata because Lupita Nyongo signed on for three movies, damnit, so she’s gonna be in them. Maz tells them the ONLY person who can complete their mission is a codebreaker wearing a special lapel pin. NO ONE ELSE can help them, and Maz would know, because characters repeatedly tell us that she’s very wise.

So they sneak off the ship and land on Canto Bight, which looks a lot like Naboo at night, but whatever. The movie wants us to know that Finn is enchanted by this place, while Rose is not, and it takes very little time for her to detail all the problems with it. None of this is conveyed in a particularly elegant or artful way--Finn stares dopily around at everything while Rose just clenches her jaw and spouts truly godawful lines like “I just want to smash this beautiful lousy city to pieces.” We also get a bunch of alien race horses, and it’s all starting to stray into the realm of the prequels.

Ultimately, Finn and Rose find the dude with the lapel pin, but are apprehended by security before they can talk to him. That is the last we see of the actual codebreaker.

After they meet and then part ways with DJ (more on him below, I hated him so much!), they find the alien race horses again and take off on horseback in one of the dumbest sequences in the film, and definitely the most broad. This part especially, the horseback escape through the city and eventual rescue by DJ felt very prequel-esque. The happy-go-lucky slave kids, the overly-CG horses, the slapstick ride through the city, it was all just too lowbrow compared to the rest of the film.

Benicio del Toro aka DJ I have a lot of issues with this character but they all really boil down to one thing: It’s cheap fucking storytelling:

It’s cheap storytelling to have Maz tell the audience “ONLY the codebreaker can get you onto the ship!” but then DJ can also do it.

It’s cheap storytelling to have Finn and Rose get imprisoned in the cell with a DIFFERENT codebreaker who can do exactly what they need.

It’s cheap storytelling to have a character as resourceful as DJ simply hanging out in jail waiting for someone to what? Also get imprisoned and ask for his help? It doesn’t make sense that if he could stroll out of prison at any point in time that he would be there at all.

It’s cheap storytelling for DJ to be able to steal a weapon merchant’s ship so easily, yet he hasn’t already done that and was instead hanging out in jail for no reason.

Not only does all this make many of the scenes in this plot (with Maz, or on Canto Bight looking for the lapel pin) feel pointless, but it also makes the rest of Finn and Rose’s plot (once they’re off Canto Bight and onto Snoke’s ship especially) frustrating because it all seems so convenient.

The best part about DJ is that, for a second, you think he’s going to contribute to Finn’s arc by pushing him towards being a more Han-Solo-at-the-start-of-ANH-style independent operator, by pointing out that both the Rebellion and the First Order are part of a larger military-industrial complex. For a second it seems like Finn might get some real depth and shading, and an interesting perspective that’s vastly different than Rey or Poe’s.

And then the worst part of DJ’s character is that he betrays them to the First Order as he was obviously going to do and this just makes Finn angry at the First Order. DJ leaves as pointlessly and stupidly as he arrived.

Finn & Rose getting captured This entire sequence was endlessly frustrating. I’ve already detailed my problems with Hux’s plan above, but Finn and Rose’s capture and subsequent escape deserves its own section because it was so bad.

The first problem is that their hangar scene was clearly written to fill dramatic space, not to function as a realistic sequence of events. Finn and Rose are brought to the hangar, surrounded by a legion of stormtroopers. Phasma insists her troops kill them slowly, which is such a painful cliché at this point that there were multiple audible groans from the audience at that point. The stormtroopers slooooowwwwwwllllly lower laser-axes to Finn and Rose’s heads. Then the ship is caught in an explosion, and when we cut back to Rose and Finn, the literal dozens of stormtroopers who had been surrounding them with laser-axes millimetres away from their necks are nowhere to be seen. Phasma is also gone, but then just as quickly the stormtroopers and Phasma come walking back into the hangar like they were never there. It makes no sense!

Then, you’ve got a very implausible fight between numerous armoured stormtroopers (it seems that in the 20+ years since ROTJ their accuracy has not improved) and two blue-collar workers wearing no protective gear. Somehow Finn goes toe-to-toe with Phasma despite the fact that if she lands a single hit on his unarmored form, he’d go down. Not to mention the fact that Phasma HAS A BLASTER which she chooses not to use on Finn. Her ultimate death was silly, earned a bunch of laughs in the theatre, and had zero drama or tension to it. I love Gwendolyn Christie but she played a horribly written, terribly underused character who never got to do a single cool thing, then got herself killed in the silliest way and went down barely landing a single blow on the unarmored janitor she was fighting.

Meanwhile, there were apparently more stormtroopers but they just kinda get forgotten about. Rose hides and fires a few stray shots, but where did the half-dozen troopers flanking Phasma when they re-entered the hangar after the explosion go?

And then, the capper on this shit sequence, is BB-8 taking control of an AT-ST, and rescuing Finn and Rose. It reeked of the worst kind of prequels-level “wouldn’t it be cool if…?” writing. It was silly, and not in a fun way, but in a really dumb and cheesy way. It was reminiscent of Anakin in The Phantom Menance shooting a bunch of droids by accident when he was hiding in the fighter cockpit, or the nonsense factory escape sequence with R2-D2’s hoverjets in Attack of the Clones.

Structural Problems

There were some massive structural problems with the film, on the following levels:

Derivative Storytelling

The movie felt and looked more original than Force Awakens, but when you look closer it’s still cut from much of the same cloth as the original trilogy. Off the top of my head, from ESB alone, there’s:

Rey trains on a remote planet with a reluctant Luke Luke trains on Dagobah with an initially reluctant Yoda

Rey’s enters a “Dark Side cave” and has a vision Luke enters a “Dark Side cave” and has a vision

Ben asks Rey, “Join me and we can rule the galaxy together” Vader asks Luke to join him so they can rule the galaxy together as father and son

The Resistance flees D’qar in cruisers and transports while being shot at by the First order The Rebels flee Hoth in cruisers and transports while being shot at by the Empire

The First Order assault a Resistance base on the remote, white salt planet of Crait with AT-ATs The Empire assaults a Rebel base on the remote, snowy planet of Hoth with AT-ATs

Because the base is older, Poe and other pilots are forced to fly slower, less maneuverable and powerful ships Because the base is on an ice planet, Luke and the other pilots are forced to fly slower, less maneuverable and powerful ships

Rey loses Anakin’s lightsaber during a confrontation with Kylo Ren Luke loses Anakin’s lightsaber during a confrontation with Vader

Rey must build her own lightsaber, a Jedi rite of passage Luke had to build his own lightsaber, a Jedi rite of passage, on Tatooine before going to Jabba’s palace

Some of those bits weren’t wholly unwelcome, but I’m really ready for Star Wars to move beyond the shadow of what’s come before. I’m ready for a Star Wars where:

The protagonist isn’t a callow youth about to become a Jedi

The main antagonist isn’t a Palpatine-like dictator

The secondary antagonist isn’t a Vader-like enforcer

The villains don’t rule over an Empire-like army

There were elements of this film that hinted at more creative stories that might get told, but too much of it hewed too close to familiar beats and tropes.

Plot Contrivances

This was a huge problem for me. The contrivances pile up really quickly, and take you out of the story fast. Rose and Finn suddenly sussing out the First Order’s secret plan. Rey is just innately powerful and doesn’t need more than a day of light training with Luke to be super powerful. Rey repeatedly tries to gain Luke’s trust, going so far as to tell him she’s being completely honest with him, despite lying from the get-go about her connection to Ben. Luke declaring that he’s been cut off from the Force for the past X years so he can plausibly not be aware of all the things he should be aware of, like Ben being inside Rey’s head. Maz tells Finn there’s only one man who can do the job, but then they randomly meet another. Phasma tells her troops to execute Finn slowly, giving him time to escape.

The sheer point of fact is, at least for me, much of the story the film told was exhausting because it required constant and new suspension of disbelief. We are already suspending our disbelief quite a bit for a story of space wizards, so I do not think it’s too much to ask for the story to flow logically, and sensibly.

Implausible Timeline

Ostensibly, from the point at which Finn and Rose contact Maz, all the action is compressed into roughly 12-16 hours (since there’s still about 2 hrs left on the fuel for the fleet when they start to abandon ship in the transports). However, in that time it feels like Rey spends several nights on Ahch-To with Luke, while Finn and Rose spend less than a single night on Canto Bight (they arrive early evening and depart the planet before dawn). Perhaps the two planets have different day/night cycles and this all works out, but to viewing audiences it seriously distorts our understanding of how much time is elapsing in between scenes. There were moments where it felt like Rey was on Ahch-To for days but then we cut back to Finn/Rose and only an hour or two have passed, and then back to the fleet and it feels like no time has passed. It’s not a death knell, but it’s just one more thing that caused a bunch of whiplash when trying to process all the different threads.

Status Quo Reset

This is perhaps my biggest disappointment with the movie, far beyond anything mentioned above. I was truly dismayed that this new trilogy is still retreading the same ground as the previous ones, and more than that it seems to be setting us as close to square one as possible and slowing down the progress enormously. At this point in the film, the Rebellion is smaller than it’s ever been, and the First Order is (somehow) nominally in charge of the galaxy. We’ve been here before--it was the first three movies. Only now we’re back to an almost pre-ANH configuration, with every indication that the story this time will move even slower and with even more unecessary detail and sideplots. I can already see the slave-kid with the Force abilities being the protagonist of the fourth, or fifth, or ninth Star Wars trilogy, and indeed the realization that these movies will be coming out like clockwork every year robs them of their lustre and appeal. If they were telling unique stories, and showing me things I’d never seen before, I’d be more excited. But instead they telling the same old stories, and taking me to the same places, with the same people (or same types of people) and it fundamentally just doesn’t look like they want to go anywhere new.

A huge part of the former Star Wars Expanded Universe was the idea that there’s a huge chunk of the galaxy (at least half of it!) that was unexplored and dangerous. There were whole societies there unlike anything we’d seen, and threats, too. I’m ready for Star Wars to grow up and stop telling the same story about the plucky Jedi taking on Darth Evil and his army of faceless fascists. I’m ready to see Jedi and Sith threatened by some new menace, or the fascists subjugated by anarchists who create their own problems. I’m just ready for there to be new stories, but when I look ahead at the road the franchise is charting for itself, it’s deeply, and stiflingly, familiar.

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